The New Nation - Internet Edition

Farashganj emerges group champions beating Muktijoddha Sangsad 2-0

UNB, Dhaka

Farashganj SC moved into the quarterfinals of the Citycell Federation Cup Football Tournament upsetting Muktijoddha Sangsad KC by 2-0 goals in the last group match at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on Saturday.

Kabir Hossain and Enamul Haque scored for the old Dhaka outfit Farashganj SC, one in each half.

With the day's well deserved victory, Farashganj emerged Group A champions with all-win record, securing full nine points from three outings. They will play Arambagh KC in the first quarterfinals.

Despite the day's defeat, Muktijoddha Sangsad finished group runners with three points from two matches and will play Dhaka Mohammedan SC in the second quarterfinals.

In previous group matches, Farashganj SC outplayed Khulna Abahani 3-0 and Dhaka Wanderers Club 1-0 while Muktijoddha SKC beat Khulna Abahani by 1-0 and played to one-all draw with Dhaka Wanderers Club.

In the day's match, Kabir Hossain put Farashganj SC ahead in the 9th minute by a powerful shot that kissed the net touching Muktijoddha defender Bipul (1-0). He received the ball when a free kick of Yousuf came his way from defender Duru.

Enamul Haque widened the margin in the 84th minute by a placing shot to open net after dodging past Muktijoddha's veteran custodian Nizam.

BCB Academy face SA Academy in 3rd one-day match today

UNB, Dhaka

Visiting GP-BCB National Cricket Academy team face South Africa Academy team in the 3rd and last one-day match at Lenasia in Johannesburg today (Sunday).

The touring side is already two down in the three-match one-day series after losing the 2nd one-dayer by 27 runs at Tukkies in Pretoria on Friday.

Before that the tourists also suffered a 19-run loss to South Africa Academy team at Dobsonvile in Johannesburg in the first one-day match.

Earlier, in the two three-day matches, the GP-BCB Academy team registered an exciting three-run win over their South African counterparts in the first match at Tukkies 1 in Pretoria. But suffered an innings and 63-run defeat in the 2nd match at Laudiam in Pretoria.

The Academy team will return home on August 25.

Bangladesh lose to AIS

Sports Reporter

Bangladesh lost to Australian Institute of Sports (AIS) by five wickets in their third one-dayer cricket match at the Gardens Oval in Darwin of Australia on Saturday.

Sent into bat first, Bangladesh scored 270 for the loss of nine wickets in 50 overs.

In reply, Australian Institute of Sports reached the winning target making 271 for the loss of five wickets when they had 11 balls to spare.

Shakib Al Hasan top-scored with 67 off 55 balls amid nine strokes through the fence.

Raqibul Hasan remained undefeated with 51 facing 92 deliveries.

CJ Sulivan and SN O'Keefe chipped in with two wickets each for 39 and 66 balls.

UT Khawaja of Australia hit the day's highest of 94 playing 123 deliveries. he sent the ball 10 times through the fence.

Skipper MC Henriqes made a captain's knock of 82 utilising 70 deliveries. He sent the ball 11 times across the ropes and one time over the fence.

Shakib Al Hasan bagged a pair of wickets giving away 34 runs.

Besides, Alok Kapali, Abdur Razzak, Nazmul Hossain took one wicket each.

Surjodoy KC drubs Bhratritta SKS by 26-12 goals

UNB, Dhaka

Surjodoy Krira Chakra drubbed Bhratritta Samaj Kalyan Sangha by 26-12 goals in a match of the 14th Cute Premier Division Handball League at the Outer Stadium Handball ground on Saturday.

Surjodoy KC led the first half by 12-7 goals.

Nishan scored six goals for the winners, while Anik netted four goals for the losers. Nishan was later adjudged man of the match.

In another match, Old Ideals edged past Menzis Krira Chakra by 22-21 goals after leading the first half 14-13.

Mamun scored seven goals for Old Ideals, while Russell netted eight goals for Menzis KC. Qadir of Old Ideals was later named the best player of the match.

Today's matches: Dhaka Mariner Youngs Club vs Old Ideals (3:00 pm), Victoria SC vs Surjodoy KC (4:00 pm)

Metropolis School (Women's) Football begins 3rd week of October

UNB, Dhaka

The Dhaka Metropolis School (Women's) Football Tournament, organized by Bangladesh Football Federation, will begin in the city in the 3rd week of October.

Ahead of the meet, the BFF women's football committee chairman Sirajul Islam Bachchu exchanged views with the sports teachers of different Bengali and English medium schools at the BFF Bhaban Saturday afternoon.

Deputy chairperson of BFF women's football committee Mahfuza Akhter Kiron was present.

Khulna Abahani beat Dhaka Wanderers 1-0

UNB, Dhaka

Khulna Abahani KC completed their Citycell Federation Cup Football campaign on a winning note beating Dhaka Wanderers Club by a solitary goal at the Gazipur Stadium on Saturday.

Tariqul Islam scored the all-important goal in the 57th minute for the sky-blue team from the port city of Khulna.

Despite the day's first victory in their 3rd and last group match, Khulna Abahani were eliminated from the season's curtain raiser soccer meet as they earlier conceded 0-3 defeat against Farashganj SC and 0-1 loss against Muktijoddha Sangsad KC.

Dhaka Wanderers Club also quit from the tourney with one point. In the previous matches, they drew 1-1 with giant Muktijoddha Sangsad KC and suffered 0-1 defeat against Farashganj SC.

Today's matches: Victoria SC vs BKSP (Gazipur Stadium 4pm), and Sheikh Russell KC vs Brothers Union (BNS 6pm).

Weeklong Archery Training Camp begins in Narail

UNB, Dhaka

The weeklong Archery Training Camp, organized by Bangladesh Archery Federation and sponsored by Uttara Bank Limited, began Saturday in Narail.

Additional deputy commissioner of Narail Mohammad Jahangir Alam inaugurated the camp as chief guest.

Some 100 trainees took part on the first day of the camp. On completion of the camp, the trainees found to perform comparatively better will be nominated for the Youth Training Camp to be held in the capital.

Mohammad Nure Alam conducted the course, while Rojibul Islam and Adv Aziz Mandal acted as his deputies.

Narail DSA vice president Sheikh Arifur Rahman and general secretary Ashiqur Rahman Miku were, among others, present on the occasion.

Superb DeGale lands boxing gold

BBC Online

James DeGale won Great Britain's 19th gold at the Beijing Games with a 16-14 win over Cuba's Emilio Correa in a bad-tempered middleweight final.

DeGale had a superb start and was 6-1 ahead after the opening round when Correa was penalised two points for biting his opponent's shoulder.

The 22-year-old was 10-4 up at halfway but as the bout got increasingly scrappy, Correa clawed his way back.

The lead was reduced to two in the final tense moments but DeGale hung on.

DeGale's medal was Team GB's third in boxing - after bronzes for super-heavyweight David Price and light-heavyweight Tony Jeffries - meaning they exceeded UK Sport's target of two medals of any colour.

DeGale, who was ranked as one of the outsiders for gold in Beijing, sank to his knees at the end of the bout before parading around the ring with the Union Flag draped over his shoulders.

Jung So Hee of Korea wins girls' singles title

UNB, Dhaka

Jung So Hee of South Korea clinched the girls' singles crown of the Prime Bank ITF-14/U Asian Tennis Championship beating her compatriot Choi Ji Hee by 6-2, 6-3 in the final at the National Tennis Complex in Ramna on Saturday.

In the boys' doubles, Malaysia pair Merzuki Mohd Assri and Razak Ahmed Deeda won the title beating Korean pair Gwung Eun Byun and Soon Hyun by 7-6 (6), 6-3 in the final on Saturday afternoon.

The boys' singles final will be held tomorrow (Sunday), the last day of the meet, at 3 pm at the same venue.

Chief Adviser's Special Assistant for Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry Prof. M Tamim will be the chief guest at the closing function on Sunday.

South Africa's 'no' imperils Champions Trophy

AP, Rawalpindi

South Africa's refusal to participate in next month's Champions Trophy in Pakistan has put serious doubt over the viability of the tournament ahead of an ICC meeting Sunday to determine its future.

South Africa pre-empted an International Cricket Council teleconference scheduled for Sunday, in which a final decision was expected on the hosting of the tournament, by announcing Friday it would not go to Pakistan due to ever-increasing security concerns.

Australia, England and New Zealand's players and boards had also expressed serious reservations about security arrangements, meaning South Africa's decision may prompt a wider boycott of the event.

That would leave the ICC facing a choice of whether to relocate the tournament to Sri Lanka, postpone the tournament - which would be difficult given the crowded cricket calendar - call up fringe cricketing nations to replace those who boycott, or call it off altogether.

The ICC, top security officials in Pakistan, players and sponsors had been involved in weeks of tense negotiations over the future of the tournament, currently scheduled for Sept. 12-28, leading up to Sunday's teleconference.

Pakistan can count on the support of its two major Asian counterparts India and Sri Lanka in the teleconference.

Sri Lanka is the standby venue, but shifting the tournament at such a late stage presents difficulties. It would require Pakistan to agree to stand aside as host, and there had been no thorough security assessment of Sri Lanka, which has its own violent political insurgency.

Pakistan's hosting rights took a significant blow Thursday when a suicide bombings killed 67 people outside the country's biggest weapons-making complex, 35 kilometers (22 miles) outside the capital

Islamabad.

Pakistan and the ICC remain adamant that international players and officials would be safe in Lahore and Karachi - the two venues of the tournament - but its assurances did not convince South Africa

and it remains to be seen if Australia, England and New Zealand had been won over.

Pakistan has promised participating teams foolproof security usually reserved for visiting heads of states. The assurance came after a meeting involving top security officials and the ICC, led by

chief executive Haroon Lorgat, in Islamabad earlier this month.

Lorgat and ICC general manager Dave Richardson led high profile task forces this month that met with the players and officials in New Zealand, Australia and England, without getting commitments of

participation. Pakistan, as a last ditch effort, even sent it's Australian coach Geoff Lawson to help persuade players from Australia and New Zealand.

Bekele storms to Olympic double

BBC Online

Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele crushed the opposition as he cruised to 5,000m gold on Saturday, adding to the 10,000m title he won eight days ago.

Bekele led all the way and sprinted to a new Olympic record time of 12 min 57.82 sec to beat Kenyans Eliud Kipchoge and Edwin Cheruiyot Soi.

It is the first time the long distance double has been secured for 28 years.

Bernard Lagat, who had been tipped to push for gold, drifted off the pace with two laps left to finish ninth.

Uganda's Moses Ndiema Kipsiro was fourth, while Ireland's Alistair Cragg pulled up half-way through the race.

Although outside his world record of 12:37.35, Bekele's time beat the previous Olympic mark of 13:05.59 set by Morocco's Said Aouita when he won gold in 1984.

Bekele said: "I am so happy with this performance. This is very special to me. It has been hard work for so many years."

US Open set to crown new women's champ for fourth-straight year

AFP, New York

World number one Ana Ivanovic will face some notable obstacles in her quest for her first ever title at the US Open which begins next week.

The likelihood of an all-Serbian final between Ivanovic and second seed Jelena Jankovic is a distinct probability, considering that defending champion Justine Henin is now retired.

World number six Maria Sharapova is also skipping the event in order to recover from a shoulder injury meaning the US Open will crown a new women's champion for the fourth consecutive year. Sharapova won this event two years ago. Like Henin, Kim Clijsters, who won in 2005, is also retired.

The 2004 champ Svetlana Kuznetsova, of Russia, is the number three seed while Serena Williams is fourth at the event which runs from Monday to September 7 at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows.

Rounding out the top five is Russian Elena Dementieva who received a huge confidence boost by winning the ladies singles gold medal in the Beijing Olympics.

French Open runner-up Dinara Safina is the number six seed, and Wimbledon champion Venus Williams is the seventh seed.

The 20-year old Ivanovic opens her tournament against unseeded Vera Dushevina. She is seeking her second Grand Slam title after winning the French Open earlier this year.

But in order to get to the final, Ivanovic might have to face France's Amelie Mauresmo or the red-hot Safina who she could meet in the quarter-finals.

Since winning at Roland Garros, Ivanovic has struggled with injuries and even lost her number one ranking briefly to Jankovic before regaining it. She was forced to pull out of the Beijing Olympics with a hand injury.

Jankovic could turn an already solid 2008 into a superb season with her first ever Grand Slam title.

All eyes will be watching to see if she can overcome the jitters that have proved to be her undoing in previous Grand Slams.

The 23-year-old consistently plays well in the early stages but needs to bring her top form to the later rounds.

Last year she was eliminated in the quarter-finals and her best showing in the US Open was a semi-final appearance two years ago.

She reached the quarter-finals at the Olympic Games, marking the 14th time in 15 tournaments that she has reached the round of eight or better.

Serena Williams could meet sister Venus as early as the quarter-finals. They met in the final of Wimbledon this year.

But first Venus is going to have to get past her opening round opponent Samantha Stosur and Serena is going to have to topple unseeded Kateryna Bondarenko as two American sisters ended up in the same quarter of the bracket.