The New Nation - Internet Edition

Senior Div Football: Badda beat Purbachal

Sports Reporter

Badda Jagarani Sangsad beat Purbachal Parishad by a solitary goal in the Senior Division Football League at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on Wednesday.

Shamim of Badda Jagarani Sangsad scored the all-important goal in the 36th minute of the game.

Meanwhile, Agrani Bank Limited SC made a goalless draw with City Club in the day's other match at the same venue.

Today Dhaka Wanderers Club will face Jatrabari KC while Youngmens Club of Fakirapool will meet Deepali Jubo Sangha.

School Hockey semi-final begins today

UNB, Dhaka

Ahmed Bawani Academy take on Narayanganj High School today (Thursday) at 3:30 pm in the 1st semi-final of the Dhaka Bank Shaheed Smriti School Hockey Tournament at the Maulana Bhasani National Hockey Stadium.

In the 2nd semis on Friday, Armanitola Govt. Boys School will face Mirpur Academy at the same venue.

The final match will be held on March 2.

Kushtia move to zonal final beating Pabna DSA

UNB, Dhaka

Riding on a Imran hattrick, Kushtia DSA moved into the zonal final beating hosts Pabna DSA by 3-1 goals in the zonal semis of the 4th JFA Cup Under-15 Football Championship at the Pabna Stadium on Wednesday.

Imran made the hattrick scoring three goals - in the 41st, 57th and 78th minutes - for the winners, while Anwar netted the lone goal for the losers in the 25th minute. In the day's another match, Ariful scored a hattrick to power hosts Cox's Bazar DSA to an emphatic 5-0 win over Bandarban DSA at the Cox's Bazar Stadium.

Ariful scored three goals for his hattrick - in the 19th, 39th and 45th minutes - while Alamgir and Noor Mohammad netted one goal each for Cox's Bazar DSA.

Dhaka MSC face Churchill Brothers in IFA Shield opener today

UNB, Dhaka

Mohammedan Sporting Club of Dhaka play Churchill Brothers of Goa today (Thursday) in the opening match of the prestigious IFA Shield Cup at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata.

The black & white Motijheel outfit will play their 2nd and 3rd matches against Mohun Bagan Club and Glasterchamppi on March 1 and 3 respectively.

Mohammedan SC is strengthened with the inclusion of noted guest players -- custodian Aminul Haq, defenders Hassan Al Mamun and Jewel Rana, and midfielders Arman Aziz and Faisal Mahmud. The team has three foreign recruits in Moroccan Adil and Hakim and Nigerian Paul.

Earlier, in 1998, Dhaka Mohammedan SC finished runners-up in the tournament after losing to East Bengal Club of Kolkata in tiebreaker in the final.

Human rights will improve in China thanks to Games: IOC official

AFP, London

Human rights will improve in China thanks to the Olympic Games being hosted there this year claimed a senior International Olympic Committee (IOC) official on Tuesday.

Former IOC director general Francois Carrard told the BBC that had the Games not been awarded to China - they beat off among other candidates the Canadian city of Toronto in 2001 - then there would be no chance of human rights evolving there as the spotlight would not have been focussed on them.

"If the Games were not awarded to China the (human rights) situation would not have progressed," the Swiss lawyer, who is now legal advisor to the IOC told the BBC.

"This is a contribution to progress, an accelerating factor." Beijing insists it is playing a positive role in Sudan, and that activists are simply politicising the Olympics and seeking to ruin the event.

China's human rights record has come under increasing scrutiny as the Games approach with their support of the Sudanese Government and the Myanmar military junta being criticised by not only human rights groups but also athletes.

China which is one the closest allies of the Sudanese government and its main arms supplier, has come under intense and sustained international criticism for not doing more to stop the years of civil conflict in Darfur.

"The monitoring on China's human rights record has gone on ever since (Beijing was awarded the Games)," said Carrard.

"Human rights is an overwhelming concern for all IOC members.

"The issue of human rights is not satisfactory in many countries around the world today, not only in China.

"But I'm convinced that when we look at this with the perspective of history we will see that the Olympic Games will have been an opportunity for considerable progress.

"Whether we can judge this now, just before the Games, after the Games or well after the Games remains to be seen."

Carrard also said he believed Oscar winning film director Steven Spielberg was wrong to have withdrawn as an artistic advisor to the event, after the Hollywood legend accused China of not doing enough to pressure Sudan to end the "continuing human suffering" in the western Darfur region.

"I respect what Mr Spielberg says but, respectfully, I totally disagree with him," said Carrard.

Beckham racing to be fit for 100th England cap

AFP, Seoul

David Beckham, who is just one match away from winning his coveted 100th England cap, admitted Wednesday he has his work cut out to be fit enough to play for his country again.

England manager Fabio Capello overlooked him for his first match in charge against Switzerland earlier this month on the grounds that the 32-year-old was not match fit.

Now Beckham is racing against time to prove his worth in time for England's friendly against France on March 26 in Paris.

"I would love to reach the 100 caps, but I have to be physically ready to be part of the team," the former England captain said here where his club LA Galaxy are on a pre-season training camp.

"All I've done is training. I have no match fitness."

Beckham and Galaxy arrived in Korea on Tuesday and will play an exhibition match on Saturday against FC Seoul at the Seoul World Cup Stadium.

If he makes 100 caps, Beckham would be only the fifth Englishman to achieve the feat.

He said he understands Capello's decision not to pick him against Switzerland.

"I've played for Capello before, and he's a great manager," Beckham said.

"He is a manager that will pick players that are fit enough.

I understand he selected others who played more games."

In the meantime, Beckham is focused on his pre-season preparations with Seoul the first stop on an Asian tour that also takes LA Galaxy to Shanghai for a match in March 5 and then Hong Kong on March 9.

"We're still two weeks into our pre-season and fitness wise, we're getting there slowly," Beckham said.

"We're looking forward to the game on March 1. I am very excited to play here before all the fans.

"We know Korea is a country that's very proud and passionate about football. It's going to be a difficult game because of some talented players here.

"But we'll give 100 percent like we always do and enjoy the game. I hope fans enjoy it, too."

FC Seoul, three-time champions of the K-League, faced Manchester United in an exhibition last July and lost 4-0. Manager Senol Gunes said things will be different this time.

"We have fewer injuries than last year, and our guys are well prepared after weeks of training," the Turkish coach said.

"There are still things we need to work on, but we're close to 100 percent heading into this game."

Dhoni backs Harbhajan to return to form

AFP, Australia

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has backed Harbhajan Singh, dismissing suggestions the controversial spinner had been distracted by his disputes with the Australians and was struggling for form.

The feisty right-armer has generally struggled for wickets, but has nonetheless been a major figure in India's long tour of Australia due to his strained relationship with the home side.

Harbhajan first clashed with the Australians in the second Test in Sydney, after which he was suspended for three Tests for allegedly racially abusing Andrew Symonds, a decision later overturned by an International Cricket Council appeal hearing.

Australia were not happy with the decision and tensions again surfaced in the tri- series clash in Sydney on Sunday, with the Indians accusing Matthew Hayden, Symonds and Ricky Ponting of provoking their players during the match.

On Tuesday, Hayden inflamed matters when he called Harbhajan an "obnoxious weed" on Australian radio.

Dhoni dismissed suggestions the controversies had impacted on Harbhajan's performances and said he would be a major figure in the upcoming tri-series finals against the Australians.

In a series dominated by the bowlers, Harbhajan has claimed just five wickets in games at 39.00, with a run rate conceded per over of 4.31.

Speaking after Tuesday's win over Sri Lanka that ensured India a berth in the tri- series finals, Dhoni said Harbhajan was bowling better than those statistics suggested.

"I think Harbhajan has done really well in the series so far, especially in the last game (against Australia)," Dhoni said.

"He bowled during the power plays and with field restrictions.

"He's not getting loads of wickets but you can see his contribution is very important."

Although India lodged a written complaint over Australia's "provocative" on-field behaviour after Sunday's game, team manager Bimal Soni said Wednesday they would not be taking any action over Hayden's latest taunts.

"We want to play cricket, and it is all in our letter to the match referee, and with what Hayden said our stance is vindicated," Soni said.

"This sort of thing should not happen but we've decided to take it in our stride and want to get on with preparing for the finals."

Meanwhile, Indian officials called for an end to the sledging between the sides, after Ishant Sharma was fined 15 percent of his match fee over a verbal clash with Symonds on Sunday.

India claim Sharma was provoked by the Australians and Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary Niranjan Shah told Indian television on Tuesday night that it had got "out of hand".

Czech teen shocks defending champ Williams

AFP, Memphis

Czech qualifier Petra Kvitova rallied to upset defending champ Venus Williams 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, ousting the top seeded American from the Memphis ATP/WTA event here Tuesday.

Kvitova, who will turn 18 next month, posted her first-ever WTA Tour win in a main draw earlier this month at Paris, defeating Medina Garrigues in the first round.

The teenager subsequently lost her next match to Elena Dementieva.

In her other two tournaments this year, Kvitova lost in qualifying in the Australian Open and at Antwerp.

Next up for Kvitova is another qualifier, Brenda Schultz-McCarthy of the Netherlands.

It was a shocking loss by Williams, who had made an impressive debut here a year ago, winning 10 of 11 sets in her five matches, including a decisive 6-1, 6-1 win over top-seeded Shahar Peer in the final.

The 27-year-old had a decent start to the season, reaching the quarter-finals at the Australian Open.

However, the reigning Wimbledon champion and 36-time winner on tour had a disappointing showing at Qatar last week, losing a third-round match to Dominika Cibulkova.

It also was a disastrous day for second-seeded Frenchwoman Tatiana Golovin, who lost her opening-round match, 6-4, 6-4, to 148th-ranked Bethanie Mattek.

The world No. 13 falls to 2-3 this season, including a loss to then-No. 69 Aravane Rezai in the second round at the Aussie Open. It was just the third top 20 victory for the 22-year-old Mattek, who has never played in a WTA final.

Next up for the American, who reached the quarter-finals here last season, is German wild card Julia Goerges.

Sixth-seeded Carolina Wozniacki of Denmark also opened with a victory, topping Milagros Sequera, 6-0, 6-2.

Hogg announces international retirement

Reuters, Sydney

Australian all-rounder Brad Hogg joined the mass exodus of players quitting international cricket when he announced his retirement today.

The spinner said he was leaving the international arena after next week's tri-series finals against India but would consider playing in Australia's domestic first-class competition for another year.

"My career started against India and I thought if I can play test cricket against India that would be fantastic," Hogg told reporters.

"I wanted to fight to get back in there and I did it and I achieved what I wanted to achieve."

The 37-year-old is among a large number of international players who have recently retired and the third Australian in the past month after Adam Gilchrist and Shaun Tait.

Hogg, a leftarm spinner and handy lower-order batsmen, played seven tests and 121 one-day internationals for Australia and was a member of the sides that won the 2003 and 2007 World Cups.

His test appearances were limited because of Shane Warne's stranglehold on the spinner's job but he was a regular and valuable member of the one-day team. A former postman, Hogg made his test debut for Australia against India in 1996 but waited more than seven years for his next test. He played his last test against India last month.

"My career started against India and I thought if I can play test cricket against India that would be fantastic," he told a news conference in Melbourne.

"I wanted to fight to get back in there and I did it and I achieved what I wanted to achieve."

Australia have been hit by a series of retirements in the past 15 months with Warne, Glenn McGrath, Justin Langer, Damien Martyn, Gilchrist, Tait and now Hogg all quitting.

His retirement also raises questions about Australia's spin options with Stuart MacGill still recovering from surgery.