No decision on selling Liverpool stake: Gillett

LONDON: Liverpool co-owner George Gillett Jr. has not yet made a decision about whether to sell his 50 percent stake in the Premier League club or offload the Montreal Canadiens.

Gillett has hired financial companies in Canada, the United States and Europe to reassess his varied holdings.

"We have appointed advisers in different countries to assess our assets," Gillett said Tuesday. "We have engaged professionals who are doing some estate planning, it has nothing to do with any decisions to sell any assets.

"We may do some recapitalization, but any links between what we are doing and the situation at Liverpool is incorrect. We have made no decision to sell."

At Liverpool, which Gillett co-owns with Tom Hicks, a July deadline is approaching to refinance the loan that funded their takeover two years ago.

That financing package of about 250 million pounds ($368.2 million) must be renewed after a six-month extension was granted by the Royal Bank of Scotland and US investment bank Wachovia. But RBS recently announced huge losses amid the global economic downturn and may not be in a position to extend further financing.

Liverpool is in second place in the Premier League - one point behind Manchester United - and has reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League.

Selling his Liverpool stake would require the approval of Hicks, but Gillett owns 80.1 percent of the Canadiens and the Bell Centre.

Gillett bought the Canadiens and their arena in 2001 for $275 million with the help of $140 million in loans from two banks and the Quebec pension fund. He also owns the Gillett Evernham NASCAR team, event promoter Gillett Entertainment Group, ski resorts, car dealerships and agricultural companies.

Source:http://sports.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/?frm_TOIHome_top

Anand beats Kramnik to take sole lead

NICE (France): World champion Viswanathan Anand crushed Vladimir Kramnik in the blindfold section and romped home with a 1.5-0.5 victory in the crucial eighth round of the Amber Blindfold and Rapid chess tournament on Monday.

Anand won the blindfold game and surged ahead in this section to share the second spot in this section.

With the rapid game ending in a draw the Indian ace is now in sole lead on 10.5 points.

Levon Aronian of Armenia defeated Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan in the blindfold game and played out a draw in the rapid to win by a similar margin like Anand and so did Magnus Carlsen of Norway in his match against Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria.

Both Carlsen and Aronain remained on Anand's heels, half point behind, and it might well be a race between these three for the title in the last three rounds.

Kramnik slipped to fourth following the loss with 9.5 points. The fifth place is held by Peter Leko of Hungary on 8.5 points while American Gata Kamsky, Topalov and Alexander Morozevich of Russia are locked on 7.5 points apiece.

Ukrainians Vassily Ivanchuk and Sergey Karjakin and Radjabov share the ninth spot on 6.5 points while Wang Yue of China is now in the cellar with 5.5.

In the blindfold section, Carlsen is in sole lead with 6.5 points followed by Anand a point behind.

In the rapid section, Anand shares the lead with Kamsky and Aronian with 5 points.

The clash of the day between leaders Anand and Kramnik started with an impressive victory for the world champion in the blindfold game.

In their first encounter since their match in Bonn a few months back, Anand played the King pawn allowing his rival to go for his favourite Petroff defence.

"After the 20th move by Kramnik I believe black's position was a bit unpleasant as there was no coordination between his pieces," said Anand, who played white.

He was pleased with his 22nd move and explained that Kramnik had missed his devastating queen manoeuvre when he erred on the 27th. Kramnik's next move was a further oversight, running into the lethal pawn push on the king side resulting in a checkmate web, but at that point black's position was already lost.

In the rapid game also Anand showed excellent opening preparation. He surprised Kramnik with the line he chose and after 15 moves he achieved what most probably he was aiming for. It was an effortless draw with the black pieces.

In other matches of the day, Kamsky drew with Karjakin in blindfold but lost the rapid game, Wang played out two draws with Leko while Ivanchuk improved his standing slightly, beating Morozevich 1.5-0.5.

Source:http://sports.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Anand-beats-Kramnik-to-take-sole-lead/articleshow/4307228.cms

McCullum may lead Kolkata Knight Riders

New Delhi: After Bangalore Royal Challengers, it is the turn of the Kolkata Knight Riders to get a new skipper.


Sources say Sourav Ganguly is unwilling to carry on as captain of the team and could step down. And the man who is tipped to replace him is New Zealand wicketkeeper Brendon MCCullum.


The Knight riders management has in fact spoken to McCullum about taking over from Ganguly who retired from international cricket last October.


Mccullum had started the first season of the IPL with a bang with a smashing unbeaten 158 off just 73 balls in the 1st match of the tournament against Bangalore Royal Challengers.


Also, unlike Australian skipper Ricky Ponting and Windies captain Chris Gayle, McCullum is available for the entire duration of the tournament.

Soruce:www.cricketnext.com

Richards replaces Smith for next two ODIs

Trinidad: Seamer Ravi Rampaul of Trinidad makes a comeback into the One-Day side after a year while rookie Barbados batsman Dale Richards has been included in the squad for the third and fourth One-Dayers against England.


Devon Smith, who did not play in either of the first two ODIs due to foot injury, makes way for opening batsman Richards while Rampaul replaced Daren Powell, who has vowfully out of form during the on-going series.


Powell took only six wickets in the five-Test series at nearly 70 apiece and took 1 for 27 in five overs in the first ODI. Rampaul, who had played 30 ODIs, last appeared for West Indies on the tour of South Africa in early 2008.


The five-match ODI series is interesting poised with both the teams winning a game each with the third game slated for March 27 in Barbados.


West Indies squad: Chris Gayle (captain), Denesh Ramdin (wicketkeeper), Lionel Baker, Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Fidel Edwards, Nikita Miller, Keiron Pollard, Ravi Rampaul, Dale Richards, Darren Sammy, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Lendl Simmons.

Source:http://cricketnext.in.com/news/richards-replaces-smith-for-next-two-odis/39363-13.html

South Africa ready to host second edition of IPL

New Delhi: IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi's search for a country to host the second edition of the Indian Premier League seems to be zeroing in on South Africa with every passing minute. South Africa have given the green signal to host the second season of the mega event, sources told CNN-IBN on Tuesday.


Modi met Cricket South Africa CEO Gerald Majola at an undisclosed venue to discuss the possibility of hosting the second edition of the Twenty20 event here. And after the meeting, sources told CNN-IBN that the deal has been virtually sealed to host the league in South Africa.


It is reported that six venues have been identified during the meeting to hold the IPL matches. Durban, Cape Town, Bloemfontein, Pretoria, Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth are the proposed venues for the games to be held.


South Africa says there will be no trouble starting the event from April 10 as per the original schedule and have assured full security, it is learnt. Cricket South Africa, it is reported, has also offered full support to the IPL.


Modi is expected to fly out from Johannesburg for London on Tuesday evening where he will hold talks with the England and Wales Cricket Board, exploring the possibility of hosting the league there. But that meeting may now be irrelevant as the rainbow nation is likely to get the all important nod from Modi and Co.

Source:http://cricketnext.in.com/

Shuttlers aim to exploit home conditions at Indian Open

Hyderabad, Mar 24 (PTI) Saina Nehwal was on guard for lower-ranked rivals, while Chetan Anand was not looking beyond the first round but Anup Sridhar was targetting the semis as Indian shuttlers geared up for the Yonex Sunrise Indian Open Grand Prix that rolls out here tomorrow.

With a relatively easy draw and home conditions, second seed Saina is undoubtedly a hot favourite at the event but the Indian, who opens her campaign against unseeded Chew Yen Daphane Ng of Malaysia, is not taking her opponents lightly as their game is unknown to her.

"I have never played against her (Chew). I don't know her game, I don't know her weakness or strength, so I am not setting any targets as such. It is an important tournament for me and I know it would be tough," Saina told PTI.

"There are some good players like Julia (Pei Xian Wong), Maria (Kristin Yulianti) and others. Each of them are good. The first two rounds are OK and I know people expect me to win and take it easy. One may say that I have a 60 per cent chance of winning because they are lower ranked than me but I won't take any player lightly," she said.

Meanwhile, Chetan will be up against a lesser known Chong Chieh Lok of Malaysia in the first round but the world number 12 Indian doesn't want to put pressure on himself and has avoided a look at the draw.
PTI

Saina's Olympic nemesis comes calling at Indian Open

Hyderabad, Mar 24 (PTI) She crushed Saina Nehwal's Olympic dreams in Beijing and world number 18 Maria Kristin Yulianti is hoping for an encore if the two face off in the Indian Open Grand Prix Badminton tournament starting here tomorrow.

"Saina is a world class player. What happened in Beijing is past. This is a new tournament and a new challenge. I have always enjoyed playing against Saina. She is really fast and cover the court really well. I hope I can defeat her this time too," 23-year-old Yulianti said.

Yulianti had beaten Saina in the Olympic quarterfinals where she came back from 12-19 down to get the better of the Indian.

Saina is not the only one Yulianti is wary of and said she is not taking her other opponents lightly either.

"The field is tough and if one has to win this one, she has to be really at her best," she said.

Playing such a big tournament after a long knee injury lay-off after the Olympics, Yulianti said she is here to acclimatise herself for the world championship to be held here in August.
PTI

Harendra eyes top-six finish for Indian hockey this year

Harendra eBhopal, Mar 24 (PTI) India's men's hockey coach in-charge Harendra Singh is eyeing a top-six finish in world ranking this year and confident about winning the Azlan Shah Cup tournament in Malaysia next month.

"India ranks ninth among the hockey playing countries and we are aiming to finish among the top-six nations in the sport by the end of the year," Harendra said today.

Talking to PTI at the central regional centre of Sports Authority of India (SAI), where the team for upcoming Azlan Shah hockey starting on April 5 will be picked up, Harendra said his boys will adopt an attacking strategy this time to clinch the title.

"We are going to lift the Azlan Shah Hockey Cup.

"The team will play an attacking game for which India is known world over. I don't believe in playing a defensive game as it does not lead to victory," Harendra said.

India finished runner-up in the tournament last year.

"The players' morale is high after the team's stunning performance in New Zealand, where India won the Test series 2-0," he added.

Five teams - New Zealand, Pakistan, Egypt, Malaysia, besides India will participate in the tournament.

PTI