The New Nation - Internet Edition

2nd win for Bangladesh in AHF Cup Hockey

UNB, Dhaka

Bangladesh hockey team registered the 2nd win in the 3rd Men's AHF Cup Hockey beating Chinese Taipei by 3-2 goals in Singapore on Sunday.

Captain Maksud Alam Habul, vice captain Russell Mahmud Jimmy and Mamunur Rahman Chayan scored one goal each for the winners after leading the 1st half 2-1, according to a massage received here.

Earlier, on Saturday, Bangladesh made a flying start crushing Brunei by 6-1 goals. Bangladesh will play their 3rd match against hosts Singapore on June 18 at 5 pm (BST).

Bangladesh have been placed in Pool A of the Asia Cup Hockey with hosts Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Uzbekistan and Brunei Darussalam while Pool B team comprises Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Oman and Thailand.

Junior Tennis Initiative (JTI) Programme begins

UNB, Dhaka

The BRAC Bank Junior Tennis Initiative (JTI) Programme, organized by Bangladesh Tennis Federation (BTF), begins in the city Sunday at Nilkhet Primary School.

International Tennis Federation (ITF) development officer of the Asia Zone Suresh Menon inaugurated the competition as chief guest this morning.

BTF general secretary Mohammad Sanaul Haque and other high officials of the Federation and sponsors BRAC Bank were present on the occasion.

Menon, who earlier arrived here Saturday midnight, also conducted a training camp later in the afternoon where 25 JTI programme coaches from across the country took part. The final session of the camp will be held on Monday morning.

The objective of the programme is to introduce tennis among the kids at school level.

Some 12,000 students (8-10 years) from 120 schools across the country will undergo this programme at following places: Dhaka, Rajshahi, Chittagong, Nawgaon and Bogra. Madaripur has also recently been included in the programme.

Federation joint secretary AKMA Quddus Bulu will supervise the programme while former BKSP player Rashedul Haque Rumi will coordinate the field training proceedings.

Over the next one year, the coaches will go to 120 selected schools in phases and will train the school students with the assistance of respective school sports teacher.

To run the programme successfully, BTF will also arrange 10 local level and 2 national level tournaments over the year.

Out of the estimated budget of Tk. 10,00,000 International Tennis Federation (ITF) will provide US$ 5,000 apart from providing sporting kits worth US$ 3,000.

Programme sponsors BRAC Bank has provided Tk 5 lakh as the title sponsor of the programme.

West Indies v Australia 3rd Test scoreboard

AFP, Barbados

Scoreboard at stumps on the third day of the third and final Test between West Indies and Australia on Saturday at Kensington Oval:

Australia 1st Innings 251

West Indies 1st Innings 216

Australia 2nd Innings (overnight 35 without loss)

P. Jaques c Ramdin b Edwards 108

S. Katich not out 148

R. Ponting c (sub) Morton b Powell 39

M. Hussey c Bravo b Benn 18

M. Clarke not out 0

Extras (b4, lb2, w2, nb4, pen5) 17

Total (3 wkts) 330

Fall of wickets: 1-223 (Jaques), 2-299 (Ponting), 3-330 (Hussey).

Bowling: Powell 16-6-40-1 (w1); Edwards 14-3-52-1 (nb2, w1); Taylor 14-2-36-0 (nb1); Gayle 16-3-45-0; Benn 36-5-107-1; Bravo 14-2-39-0 (nb1); Marshall 2-2-0-0.

Overs: 112

Position: Australia lead by 365 runs with seven second innings wickets standing.

Dozens of Iraqis wounded by gunfire after World Cup win

AFP, Baghdad

At least 39 people were wounded by stray bullets in Iraq as jubilant football fans fired into the air after the national side defeated China in a World Cup qualifier, police said on Sunday.

Gunfire reverberated across Baghdad and several other cities as hundreds of rounds were fired skywards to greet Saturday's victory.

Football is often the only source of shared joy in Iraq, a country still wracked by sectarian violence, and such victories are traditionally celebrated by gunfire.

Defence ministry spokesman Major General Mohammed al-Askari said the action was illegal but acknowledged that controlling such celebrations was difficult.

"There is a law against people firing their guns, but this part of the culture of our society," he said at a press briefing.

At least 25 more people were wounded in a separate incident when a female suicide bomber blew herself up amid a crowd of fans at a cafe north of Baghdad just minutes after the end of the game.

The attack took place in Qara Tappah, a town in Diyala province, one of Iraq's most dangerous and where US and Iraqi forces are battling Al-Qaeda militants.

Svetlana steps onto grass as Eastbourne top seed

AFP, Eastbourne

Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2004 champion, will make her only pre-Wimbledon grass appearance from Monday as top seed at the Eastbourne Championships.

The Russian, who also played semi-finals at Devonshire Park in 2005 and 2006, heads the field after the pullout of French Open champion Ana Ivanovic due to mental and physical exhaustion.

While the new number one from Serbia is resting prior to the June 23 start of the grass-court Grand Slam at the All England club, Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli will gamble on a wrist injury as she plays as second seed.

The Frenchwoman has been troubled by the problem for several weeks and said she had considered skipping Roland Garros.

But instead of resting, Bartoli, a losing 2007 semi-finalist to Justine Henin, pushed herself to play on grass at Birmingham, dropping her opening match.

After going out in the Paris first round, the frustrated player sounded angry. "I'm just fed up. I'm going to turn off my mobile phone, turn off my TV set. Since the beginning of this year I've been playing and I felt tired.

"It's five months I've been feeling this, in this state, being very tired."

Durable Russian Vera Zvonareva takes the third seeding ahead of Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska.

Victoria Azarenka of Belarus is seeded fifth while French teenage sensation Alize Cornet, who reached the Paris third round before losing to Radwanska, is on sixth.

Czech seventh seed Nicole Vaidisova, who had three first-round losses on clay before a grass quarter-final this week in Birmingham, is seeded seventh ahead of Russian Nadia Petrova.

American mother Lindsay Davenport, the 2001 winner who last played on the south coast in 2003, returned to the court for the first time since mid-April.

The 32-year-old, who returned to tennis last September as she broke a nine-month retirement, opens against Virginie Razzano of France.

Seeds:

Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS x1), Marion Bartoli (FRA x2), Vera Zvonareva (RUS x3), Agnieszka Radwanska (POL x4), Victoria Azarenka (BLR x5), Alize Cornet (FRA x6), Nicole Vaidisova (CZE x7), Nadia Petrova (RUS x8)

Roddick happy to fly under the radar at Wimbledon

AFP, London

Andy Roddick insists he is happy to go into Wimbledon as an underdog after Rafael Nadal ended his reign at Queen's.

Roddick knows Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic will all be ahead of him in the pre-Wimbledon betting, but the American doesn't care if he's written off because he is convinced he can still mount a serious challenge for the title.

After being over-powered 7-5, 6-4 by Nadal in the semi-finals at Queen's, Roddick acknowledged he needs more time on court following his five-week lay-off with a shoulder injury.

"I wish I could have obviously been hitting a little bit more. It's just something you deal with," he said.

"It's definitely not a perfect scenario going into this tournament. But you do the best you can.

"To be honest, I got about what I wanted out of it. I was coming in short on practice. I hadn't really played much at all. I hadn't even served hardly.

"I wanted to come here, get some matches in, leave healthy. I feel that that's what I've done and now I have a week of preparation for Wimbledon."

Despite missing out on valuable time on the grass courts when Mardy Fish and Andy Murray pulled out on matches against him, the former US Open champion still expects to make his presence felt at the All-England Club in a tournament he believes could be more open than ever. "I don't really pay attention to people saying I'm off the radar. I don't crave the attention or need the attention or anything like that. I just want to go in and try to put one foot in front of the other and get through some matches there," he said.

"It should be very exciting. Roger's certainly the favourite until someone knocks him off. But there's probably maybe some more conversation this year than there has been in years past. It will be a fun fortnight."

Roddick's hopes of winning a record fifth title at Queen's were ended in emphatic style as the reigning champion was dethroned by Nadal, but he won't dwell for long on the end of his dominance in west London.

"They never actually gave me a crown. They let me hold up the trophy for about 30 seconds every year! That's about the extent of it," he joked.

Japan burning to strike back at Bahrain

AFP, Tokyo

Japan coach Takeshi Okada and his squad vowed Sunday to avenge their defeat to Bahrain after powering themselves into the final round of Asian World Cup qualifying.

Table-toppers Bahrain, who shamed Japan 1-0 at home earlier in their group, will clash with the former Asian champions again next Sunday in Saitama in their final group fixture.

"It won't be just a match to complete as a formality," Okada said when his team returned home after blanking Thailand 3-0 away on Saturday to clinch a berth in the final round.

"They made our blood boil so much that we'll never forget for the rest of our lives," Okada said of the March 26 defeat, which had left him under tremendous pressure.

"I will fight for my pride and the pride of Japanese football," said Okada, who took over from Ivica Osim last December after the Bosnian suffered a serious stroke.

The Gulf side also advanced to the final round by drawing

with Oman 1-1 at home to lead the table with 11 points, followed

by Japan at 10.

"I personally want to play in the next match against Bahrain and have revenge," said Celtic playmaker Shunsuke Nakamura. "We lost to them when I was absent."

Nakamura, who helped earn Celtic to their third straight Scottish Premier League championship, joined the qualifying campaign only this month after the end of the league season.

Okada had not used European-based players until this month. Other midfielders, new St Etienne signing Daisuke Matsui and Wolfsburg's Makoto Hasebe, have also gelled well with the team.

Nakamura scored one goal and set up another when Japan beat Oman 3-0 at home. Japan also drew with Oman 1-1 away before the win over Thailand, in which he played despite pain from an old injury to his right ankle. "We are determined to clear up our sense of humiliation," said captain and centre back Yuji Nakazawa.

Another centre back, Marcus Tulio Tanaka, opened the scoring when he nodded home a corner kick from Yasuhito Endo in the 22nd minute.

Endo then lobbed a cross for Nakazawa to head in at the far post in the 38th minute.

In the 88th minute, Kengo Nakamura latched onto a through ball and coolly slotted home to seal the match.

Okada, however, has warned his charges have a lot to improve in a bid for their fourth straight World Cup finals. Okada led Japan to a winless debut on the big stage in France in 1998.

"This team play very good football and have a lot of good players," he said immediately after the Thai game.

"But I've always thought they're missing a few small pieces. They may include the tenacity to fight or the determination to steal the ball. I wanted them to work on these things today."

"They fought to the last minute in this hot weather," he said. "I feel this team can get one step stronger this way."

Pietersen gets wrapped up in Twenty20

AFP, England

Kevin Pietersen had a simple answer when asked if the prospect of earning one million dollars each in Antigua in November would make England players more selfish.

"We were joking when we were playing touch rugby before Friday's game about whether we will be playing touch rugby before the Antigua game," the star batsman explained.

"I said I'm going to come down to breakfast in a cotton wool suit that morning!"

Should England win a Twenty20 match against a Caribbean 'Super Stars' side, put together by businessman Allen Stanford at his own ground in Antigua on November 1, all 11 players will earn a million dollars each of the Texan billionaire's money.

South Africa-born Pietersen, unhappy at suggestions he might be barred from playing in future editions of the IPL in India, said cricket's shortest form was now no longer just a bit of fun.

"The Twenty20 World Cup South Africa (last year) - that was silly shots for silly games," said Pietersen.

"When it first came in everyone thought it was just something to go and have some fun with but it is now a huge, huge business", the 27-year-old Hampshire shotmaker added.

"As we've seen by the tournament in India and by what is happening in November and the (Twenty20) World Cup in England next year, it is a totally different kettle of fish now."

Pietersen, who made an unbeaten 42 off 41 balls in a nine- wicket thrashing of New Zealand at Old Trafford here Friday - England's first Twenty20 international since Stanford unveiled his plans at Lord's 48 hours earlier - appears well-placed to benefit from cricket's financial revolution.

But the man whose 158 against Australia at The Oval in 2005 helped secure the Ashes for England was confident about the future of Test matches.

"Test cricket is the best, it's amazing. I love the challenges over the five days and the different situations you get yourself into," Pietersen explained.

"That thrill of scoring a Test match hundred, nothing beats that."

The 2007 50-over World Cup in the Caribbean suffered in comparison to the shorter, more exciting, inaugural World Twenty20 later in the year.

"I think it (Twenty20) will be the new form of one-day cricket for sure," Pietersen said. "I reckon in the next couple of years 50 overs is probably going to be something of the past."

England one-day captain Paul Collingwood admitted the Antigua match was "scary" because the only thing riding on it was money - the losing side get nothing from Stanford for turning up.

But Pietersen downplayed suggestions it could lead to dressing room splits.

"I'm happy it's a 'winner-takes-all' situation. It is an absolute bonus fixture. There is no point in building it up to be this absolutely incredible game where you have to win. You are guaranteed to lose then.

"You can't think this is a game that you have to make sure you win to set yourself up for life. If you do well over a ten year period playing for England, right now, you will be financially sorted."

Scolari counts Chelsea cash but keeps eyes on Euro prize

AFP, Switzerland

Luiz Felipe Scolari insisted on Saturday that his move to Chelsea, which he admitted was partly for financial gain, would not distract him or his Portugal squad from their bid to win Euro 2008.

"It is not going to change anything at the moment," Scolari said. "I am here with my body and soul, completely involved to the end and I hope we can get to another final."

Speaking for the first time since his appointment as Avram Grant's successor was announced, Scolari said his negotiations with Chelsea had been conducted in the full knowledge of his current employers after they had failed to strike a deal with sponsors to finance a new contract for him that may have allowed him to extend his stay in Portugal. Asked if that meant he was going to Chelsea for the money, Scolari responded: "Yes, that is one of the reasons."

He added: "It was not only because they (the Portuguese federation) did not get the appropriate sums. I am 59 and I don't want to work as a coach until I'm 70. I want to retire in four or five more years, so money was an issue but not the only one."

Scolari said his decision to move to London had also been motivated by a desire for his son to study in England and for a change after five and a half years in charge of Portugal.

"Five and a half years is a record for me in a job. It is good to change things. "And then these kind of opportunities do not come along every day."

Scolari said that his reputation as a tough disciplinarian capable of sorting out differences with players with his fists was wide of the mark.

"You have to ask my wife," Scolari said. "She is the one who knows best. I am what you see: I like to play, I like to joke, I like a good atmosphere, to play with my players.

"I feel comfortable anywhere in the world because I'm someone who always has good relations with the people around me.

"I'm not someone who likes to go to parties, I am shy." Scolari insisted that he had sufficient English for his new role, although there was little evidence of it in his press conference here.

"When I work with my players, I speak English, Portuguese, German, Italian, you name it, because football is one language." The Brazilian went on to defend his record as a successful club coach, dismissing a suggestion he had spent too long in charge of national sides.

"I think I'm a good manager, relatively good. The results of the squads I've coached speak for themselves. I have got my weak points but can't tell you my pluses or minuses. Ask the players I have worked with.

"I spent 20 years as a club manager, so I think I know the ins and outs of club management." Portugal players Nuno Gomes and Armando Petit doggedly refused to make any comment about the impact of the coach's impending departure on the squad.

Gomes was prepared to be drawn on the qualities that had made Scolari, who led Brazil to World Cup glory in 2002 and Portugal to the final of Euro 2004, such a respected coach.

"Apart from being a coach, he is a friendly guy for the players," Gomes said. "For us it is important to have those human qualities. He is a good psychologist, for us that is also important."

Having beaten Turkey and the Czech Republic in their first two matches, Portual are already sure of their place in the quarter-finals and are virtually certain to finish top of their group, a situation which will give Scolari the chance to rest key players for Sunday's match against the Swiss.