Randhawa ready to go for the top at Thai Open

PHUKET: Top Indian golfer Jyoti Randhawa, fresh from his seventh place finish last week, is all set to improve upon that at the Singha Thailand Open starting on Thursday.

Randhawa, who is planning to train his sights on the European Tour later in the season has been getting into good form, even though his putting has let him down.

"I have been hitting well and am happy with the progress. In Jakarta last week I could have been much higher (than seventh) with some better putting," said Randhawa.

The huge Indian challenge of 13 golfers will also include some star names like SSP Chowrasia, Shiv Kapur, Gaurav Ghei, Digvijay Singh, Amandeep Johl and Rahil Gangjee. The field also has Gaganjeet Bhullar, C Muniyappa, Aniran Lahiri, Himmat Rai, Arjun Singh and Chiragh Kumar.

Also in the fray in Thailand Open is two-time US PGA Tour winner Daniel Chopra who believes he is close to regaining his best form as he prepares for a title charge. The Swede will headline the $500,000 Asian Tour event at the devilish par-70 Laguna Phuket Golf Club alongside in-form Thai star Thongchai Jaidee and Order of Merit leader Anthony Kang of the US besides Randhawa.

"My game feels good. I'm getting closer every week. The swing is getting better and it's a matter of getting the confidence. I don't think about the swing changes anymore, I'm just trying to get the control of the ball which is getting better," said Chopra.

The 35-year-old, who is of Indian-Swede parentage, took a decision to remodel his game after lifting the 2008 Mercedes-Benz Championship, a tournament exclusive for winners on the US PGA Tour, for his second triumph in America.

But while the results have suffered over the past few months, Chopra knows his new swing will serve him better in the long haul.

Chopra said the challenging Laguna Phuket course will provide a stern test at the Singha Thailand Open, which is making a welcome return to the Asian Tour after a three-year lapse.

"The course is a lot tougher than I thought it would be. The rough is some of the thickest I've seen in Asia. With the tight pins, it will be a very good test," said Chopra.

Soruce:www.timesofindia.com

South Africa must do more to promote World Cup: FIFA

JOHANNESBURG: Hosts South Africa must do more to promote this year's Confederations Cup and the 2010 World Cup, FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke said on Tuesday.

"I have not seen a single promotion for the Confederations Cup and also not a single one for the World Cup," he said.

"It is impossible to bring people to the stadium if we do not promote the Confederations Cup," he said.

World Cup Organising Committee chief executive officer Danny Jordaan criticised what he saw as a lack of enthusiasm in the country.

"There is only one country that will host this World Cup and that is South Africa. And yet you find countries like Canada, Australia are more enthusiastic it seems than our own South African population," he said.

"The same situation applies for the Confederations Cup."

The Confederations Cup, seen as a World Cup appetiser, will take place from June 14-28. Valcke said a company had been hired to advertise both events.

Jordaan said 170,000 tickets had been sold so far for the Confederations Cup.

South Africa's government hopes the World Cup, the first to be held in Africa, will bring in millions of dollars and give the country a higher profile.

The readiness of the stadiums and infrastructure for the World Cup has come under scrutiny but FIFA President Sepp Blatter said in December there was "no plan B".

The South African government has pledged to beef up security for the tournament, hoping to ease concerns over one of the world's highest rates of violent crime.

Source:http://sports.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/SA-must-do-more-to-promote-World-Cup-FIFA/articleshow/4220994.cms

Cricket must go on, but not in Pak: ICC

London: The International Cricket Council on Tuesday vowed to keep the game alive despite a terror attack wounding six Sri Lankan players in Lahore but scratched Pakistan out of the list of venues for international matches in the foreseeable future.


"The world is a dangerous place but cricket must go on. It will go on. It's a great game and a great solace to so many people," declared a sombre-looking ICC President David Morgan at a hurriedly-convened news conference here.


Morgan and ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat, under sustained questioning from reporters, indicated the 2011 World Cup, set to be staged in the Indian subcontinent may now be held in only three countries — India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.


"The World Cup is due to be staged in the Indian sub-continent shared between four countries. That is the current plan, but the ICC board will have to think very carefully about the extent to which Pakistan will be used for that event," Morgan said.


"I think it's difficult to see international cricket being played in Pakistan in the foreseeable future," Lorgat said, and spelt out the choice for Pakistani cricketers: "It's better that Pakistan chooses to play cricket in neutral venues rather than not play at all."


The ICC board is to meet in mid-April for a detailed discussion on the World Cup with the Organising Committee headed by ICC Vice President Sharad Pawar.

However, Lorgat insisted that security arrangements for bilateral tours, such as the one between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, were the direct responsibilities of the two playing countries rather than the ICC, which can only get involved if specifically asked.


Lorgat revealed that the Sri Lanka cricket board had been specifically warned about the risks of playing in Pakistan, but had overruled the advice after its own risks assessment.


"I know for a fact that post the regime change in Pakistan, once Musharraf went", the advice the ICC then got from its security advisers was that they had more confidence under the previous regime.


"And that's one of the reasons why we were not confident about holding the Champions Trophy" in Pakistan.


Lorgat said the advise was passed on to the Sri Lankans, but that the Sri Lankans held their own security assessment and they were "satisfied with the intelligence that they gathered about the security that they were provided".


Morgan and Lorgat said all ICC board members were made aware of that information.


Morgan dismissed suggestions that the subcontinent was a more dangerous place to stage international cricket matches, saying: "It (the attack) has completely changed the landscape, but it's changed the landscape full stop - not just in the Indian subcontinent."

Source:http://cricketnext.in.com/news/cricket-must-go-on-but-not-in-pak-icc/38778-13-1.html

Australia willing to host 2011 WC games

Melbourne: Australia would be ready to host matches in the 2011 World Cup following the attack on the Sri Lankan team in Pakistan, Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said on Wednesday.


But he stressed that he would prefer the tournament to go ahead as planned in Pakistan, as well as India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.


The International Cricket Council (ICC) cast doubt on Tuesday on Pakistan's hopes of remaining a co-host of the four-yearly event, saying the Lahore attacks had changed the global landscape of the game.


"Officially, we are the standby hosts for the 2011 World Cup — our strong preference is for the event to go ahead in Asia, hosted by the countries that the ICC sees fit," Sutherland was quoted as saying by Australian Associated Press.


"We're the hosts for 2015 and we're confident we can put on a fantastic event... but we want the appropriate lead time into that event because of all the planning considerations necessary for it."


New Zealand are also standby hosts for the 2011 World Cup.


The ICC's board will discuss the fallout from the Lahore ambush — which killed eight people and left seven Sri Lankan cricketers wounded -- and the consequences for the World Cup at a meeting in Dubai next month.

Source:http://cricketnext.in.com/news/australia-willing-to-host-2011-wc-games/38790-13.html

BCCI considers delaying IPL with polls looming

New Delhi: A fall-out of the terror attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore could be the IPL. After Home Minister P Chidambaram said providing security for matches while the elections are on will be difficult, the BCCI has told CNN-IBN that it will be willing to make adjustments, but only minor ones.


"We are open to making minor adjustments in IPL schedule," BCCI President Shashank Manohar said on Wednesday. "No IPL match will be held in a city where polls are being held that day."


IPL team owners, too, have raised raising concern about player security. Shilpa Shetty, Bollywood actress and co-owner of the Rajasthan Royals said, "The only thing that IPL board can do at this point is to beef up the security. It's a really sad day for sports... for such an unfortunate thing to happen. But I'm trying to be positive and I empathise with the cricketers who have suffered, the Sri Lankan cricketers, and the umpire who got hurt."


On the other hand, New Zealand all-rounder Jacob Oram, who plays for Chennai Super Kings, has said that he will reconsider coming to India.


"I think there are definite questions to be asked," Oram said. "The IPL has given me an economic freedom that I didn't even dream about, but I have a family now. Cricket's important, but it is not as important as my life. Lalit Modi and the IPL have given assurances that the security will be beefed up for the event. (But) I'll be thinking twice before going to play in the sub-continent."


Oram's concerns were echoed by the Federation of International Cricketers' Association's (FICA) Chief Executive Tim May who said, "We have written to the Indian Premier League on behalf of our members requesting an ability for player representatives to be involved in the evaluation and construction of security for the event."


"An increasing number of players have expressed a desire for an independent level of comfort surrounding security arrangements for this event," May added.


Reiterating the Indian Government's stand on IPL matches, ICC vice-president and former BCCI boss Sharad Pawar has said that the board should respect the decision.


"I don't think in India one should worry," he said. Unlike Pakistan, security forces are competent, our public is alert, and I don't think that's the situation here. But still if the Government is saying one has to understand the background and understand the situation."

Source:http://cricketnext.in.com/news/bcci-considers-delaying-ipl-with-polls-looming/38791-13.html