Sunday International Sports News

BCB to sign deal with Nimbus today
Staff Correspondent
The Bangladesh Cricket Board will sign a long-term deal with Singapore-based Nimbus
Sports International today awarding the firm the marketing rights of Bangladesh’s international cricket up to March 2012.
Nimbus had won the rights for a six-year period in November 2006 when it outbid Zee Sports and ESPN-Star Sports by agreeing to pay $56.88 million.
But after the agreement for shorter version of the game was signed both the parties took time to work out all the details of the deal clearly.
The new deal will cover all the aspects of the upcoming events.
A special committee reviewed and renegotiated some provisions of the proposed deal with the Nimbus’ officials before making some recommendations. The recommendations were elaborately discussed at a BCB executive committee meeting.
It was revealed at the meeting that Nimbus has agreed to reduce the production cost of the matches during the contractual period from $19.5 million to $15 million.
The BCB and Nimbus also agreed to minimise the risk of revenue loss in the eight international series that have been deemed to be a commercial flop. The meeting was also told that Nimbus has agreed to give a bank guarantee against the money it is due to pay.
Bangladesh Cricket Board completed the formalities of its worldwide marketing
agency rights deal with Nimbus Sports International when the contract was signed between the two parties on December 1, 2006.
Earlier on November 17, 2006, the BCB had approved the bid worth $56.88 million for the next six years.


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Little wonder from
Kolkata aims high
Raihan Mahmood

Six-year-old Mitrav Guha maybe is very small in size but his eyes are focused on the big stage of chess and he has already proved his prowess in the chess circuit. The Standard Two student of Kolkata South Point School is the tiniest contestant in the ongoing Standard Chartered School Chess but has a big ambition.
Mitrav is accompanied by his father, who discovered his chess skills when he was just three years old.
‘We kept Mitrav busy with the chess board at the tender age and he liked the black and white board, at the age of three we made him familiar with the pawns and the queens, he showed his fondness and that’s the start of the journey,’ said Raj Guha, the father of Mitrav.
This is the first time Mitrav is playing outside his country and he is very delighted. ‘I like the atmosphere here and the competition, the players are playing good quality chess, I have to learn a lot,’ said Mitrav.
Mitarv has won the Sri Mangal U-7 Chess title twice and finished fourth in the All India U-7 Championships last year and will compete this year also.
Mitarv is actually a part of the chess boom in West Bengal initiated by the recent successes of India in the international circuit.
There are four Grand Masters in West Bengal and chess is rapidly growing to take centre stage. Dibyendu Borua, the popular GM, is leading from the front. He runs a coaching school and his wife WGM Saheli Barua has come forward to helping the budding chess players.
‘We have a lot of budding chess players in Kolkata and at least 30/35 rapid chess tournaments take place each year where hundreds of competitors hone their skills.
The West Bengal Chess Federation has also taken adequate measures to expand the game,’ said Raj Guha.
Mitrav was unable to say anything about his future goals as he is only six. But he likes Dibyendu and wants to emulate his mentor.
‘Dibyendu is my favorite player and I want to be like him,’ said Mitrav who wants to reach the highest level.


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Federer, Nadal braced for
Beijing power shift
Agence France-Presse . Beijing
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will be chasing more than gold at the Beijing Olympics with the coveted world number one place suddenly at stake following the Spaniard’s stunning Wimbledon triumph.
Federer has occupied the top spot in the rankings for 232 weeks while Nadal has had to be content with life in the Swiss star’s slipstream for 155 of those.
But the tournament in China could witness the latest dramatic switch in tennis’s balance of power which seemed impossible just a few weeks ago.
Ahead of the French Open, where Nadal cruised effortlessly to a fourth successive title, the Mallorcan was too busy looking over his shoulder at the imminent danger posed by Novak Djokovic who was poised to take over his number two slot.
But after becoming the first man since Bjorn Borg in 1980 to complete the elusive Roland Garros-Wimbledon double, Nadal is now poised to knock Federer off his perch if a complicated series of scenarios work in his favour.
The defining moment could come on the north American hardcourts, in Beijing or at the US Open where Federer is the defending champion.
Either way, the 22-year-old Nadal is eager for the Olympics to get underway.
‘To play in the Olympics is very special, because when you’re very young you always see the Olympic Games on television,’ said Nadal who’ll be making his singles debut in Beijing having played doubles with Carlos Moya at Athens four years ago.
‘You represent your country, that’s the same as the Davis Cup, but at the same time it’s completely different. When I play Davis Cup I always have this big motivation and I think in the Olympics I am going to have the same.’
Despite Nadal’s triumphs at Wimbledon and at Roland Garros, Federer doesn’t take kindly to suggestions that he should be preparing to hand over his number one spot to his Spanish rival.
‘You write what you want,’ he snapped after losing the five-set thriller at the All England Club, his 12th defeat in 18 matches with Nadal.
‘I’m going to try and win the Olympics and the US Open and then we can talk again.’
The Federer-Nadal rivalry will be one of the most fascinating at the Games with commercial backers and the game’s rulers licking their lips in anticipation.
If TV viewing figures are any guide, a gold medal clash between the sport’s heavyweights will be big box office.
In the United Kingdom, more than 13 million viewers watched the culmination of the Wimbledon final, a huge 47.6 percent of the TV audience.
Federer finished fourth at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and was knocked out in round two at Athens by Thomas Berdych of the Czech Republic.
Despite his enthusiasm for the Games, the 12-time Grand Slam champion acknowledged, however, that Wimbledon, Roland Garros and the Australian and US Opens remain the benchmark of success.
‘You’re going to be judged on the Grand Slams you win and number ones,’ Federer says. ‘The Olympics are a new thing to tennis.
‘Maybe in 50 years’ time it will also become one of the big tournaments to win. For me it is already, but maybe some players and some fans need more convincing that the Olympics is big for tennis.’


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English chief wary of
new T20 plans
Agence France-Presse . London
English cricket’s senior administrator has poured cold water on plans to create a new money-spinning Twenty20 county tournament.
Proposals drafted by a group including Keith Bradshaw, the Australian secretary of Marylebone Cricket Club, the owners of Lord’s, and Surrey chairman David Stewart for a nine-team tournament are set to be presented at an England and Wales Cricket Board meeting on Tuesday.
However, ECB chairman Giles Clarke has made it clear he is concerned at any plan which doesn’t cater for England’s existing 18 first-class counties.
The new scheme, which has been discussed by MCC, Hampshire, Surrey and Lancashire - all clubs whose grounds currently stage international matches - envisages nine consortia backed by private investors and based at England venues playing in a 57-match tournament in 2010.
According to its backers, it would replace the current 40-over league, a competition many feel the English game could do without as there is no international equivalent, in the county set-up.
The scheme also envisages the new teams entering a bidding process for players similar to that already in use at the Indian Premier League.
There are also suggestions for a separate Twenty20 event on Friday nights and a 50-overs per side one-day tournament to be played at weekends, which would wrap around the first-class County Championship.
But despite projections of a 50 million pounds (100 million dollars) profit in its first year, rising to as much as 85 million pounds (170 million dollars), which would be shared between the ECB, investors and overseas boards, for their role in supplying players, Clarke was unconvinced.
‘There have been a lot of ideas pushed around, most of debatable economic validity,’ said Clarke, a self-made millionaire.
‘Quite a lot of it is probably not going to find favour with me.
‘I am firmly in favour of 18 counties playing matches for their home crowds. I don’t see why they should be fearful for their county futures.
‘History and tradition is something only a fool breaks asunder. We need to ensure whatever is produced will be economically viable, will provide cricket people want to watch and the right format for our national side in all forms of cricket,’ the former Somerset chairman added.
A joint statement issued Saturday by Bradshaw and Stewart regretted the leak but stood by their proposal.
‘We make no apologies for preparing this board discussion paper, as we strongly believe that the idea of an English Twenty20 tournament, taking the best from the Indian Premier League and combining it with the strengths of the English game is worthy of discussion,’ the statement said.
It added: ‘We are naturally disappointed that the paper has leaked before the ECB board can discuss it on July 15. It was the intention of the paper to stimulate discussion... We welcome the debate that will now take place.’


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Isinbayeva sets new polevault
world record
Agence France-Presse . Rome

Russia’s Yelena Isinbayeva set a new women’s polevault world record of 5.03m at the Golden League meeting here on Friday but former 100m world record holder Asafa Powell suffered an injury scare.
Isinbayeva bettered her previous world record of 5.01m set in Helsinki in August 2005.
The Olympic and world champion, making her first appearance of the season outdoors, has now set 22 world records in the event (12 outdoor and 10 indoors).
Her latest world record comes just four weeks before the Beijing Olympics get underway and took her closer to one of her ambitions - beating Ukrainain Sergei Bubka’s record of setting 35 world records in the men’s polevault.
‘I was ready for the record. It’s what I wanted,’ said Isinbayeva.
‘After I jumped 4.95m tonight I really felt like putting the bar at 5.03m rather than 5.02m. This is just the start. There is the Olympic Games and other records will come later.’
Meanwhile, Jamaican sprinter Powell felt a cramping in his groin in his 100m heat at the Olympic Stadium and then pulled out of the final as a precautionary measure, said his agent Paul Doyle.
Powell clocked 10.19sec and had led his heat before easing up in the last 30 metres.
‘It’s nothing serious, but he felt a cramp in his groin,’ said Doyle. ‘He will be back in training on Monday.’
Doyle added that Powell was due to return to the track in Stockholm on July 22.
Portugal’s Francis Obikwelu made the most of Powell’s problems to win the final in a time of 10.04sec.
In the 400m, Jeremy Wariner just edged out compatriot and rival LaShawn Merritt who had won their last two races including the United States’ Olympic trials last week.
Wariner, the Olympic and double world champion, took victory in 44.36secs with
Merritt on his shoulder at 44.37sec.
‘I worked the turn better. I ran like I should have done at the trials,’ said Wariner.
Merritt added: ‘I started to lean a little too early. That’s OK. You live, you run, you learn. I did what I came to do. I feel good, so that’s all that matters.’
The meeting also saw the race for the end-of-season one million dollar jackpot reduced to a two-athlete race.
Spain’s 100m hurdler Josephine Onyia, American 400m hurdles runner Bershawn Jackson and Saudi long jumper Hussain Al-Sabee were all beaten leaving the field open for Kenya’s 800m runner Pamela Jelimo and Blanka Vlasic, the Croatian high jumper.
Jelimo won her event in 1min 55.69sec while Vlasic claimed victory with a leap of 2.00m.
Cuba’s 110m hurdles world record holder Dayron Robles won his race in 13.08secs while Panama’s Irving Saladino took the long jump with a leap of 8.30m.


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