My Sports India has completed its 100th post. We had a dream. That people would find sports accessible in India. We’ve been there ourselves. Hunting for TV schedules, match previews, news clips. My Sports India was born out of our need to create something that we ourselves could use. And we have surpassed our expectations. 

So how have we come?

• We have over 400 visits a day. A large amount of whom are from Google hungry for match schedules.
• We have attracted new writers. We will soon have two new bloggers writing for My Sports India.
• A large amount of visitors are from outside the Indian subcontinent. Meaning the blog is one of its kind. Maybe we need to make a more international version. For those international users, please use the World Clock converter in our Links section to convert timings.

Added features

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Would you like to voice out your opinion on past and future sporting events? Write for My Sports India. You could either be a part of team My Sports India as a full time blogger, or even be a casual guest writer. Maybe you have a sports blog dedicated to some speciality game. If you have an interesting post, send it our way and we’ll link it back to you. Email us at ‘admin [at] my sports india [dot] com’ to get in touch. 

This weekend, the IndyCar Series is at The Milwaukee Mile for the ABC Supply/A.J. Foyt 225. In the four seasons that the IndyCar Series has raced at Milwaukee, the Indy 500 winner has finished second three times - Buddy Rice (2004), Sam Hornish Jr. (2006) and Dario Franchitti (2007).

Last year marked the first time that the IndyCar Series race at Milwaukee immediately followed the Indianapolis 500, although historically this will be the 51st time that Milwaukee has followed Indianapolis. Eight drivers have been able to pull the Indianapolis-Milwaukee double, including four-time Indianapolis 500 winner A.J. Foyt.

The last driver to win Indianapolis and Milwaukee in the same year was Juan Pablo Montoya in 2000. The last driver to double up in the same series was Al Unser Jr., in 1994.

The IndyCar 225 race at Milwaukee will be aired Live on ESPN India on 2nd June, at 1:30 a.m.

The moment of truth will be upon us as the Manchester United battle Chelsea over the UEFA Champions League cup at the finals. For the first time in a long time, two English clubs reach the finals. Some say boring, some say the best football comes from England. Whatever it may be, this is going to surely be one crazy match to watch. 

So Chelsea reached the Champions League final for the first time on Wednesday, beating Liverpool 3-2 after extra time at rain-lashed Stamford Bridge to set up a meeting with Manchester United. Two goals from Didier Drogba and a penalty from a grieving Frank Lampard gave them a 4-3 aggregate victory in a dramatic semi-final against the side that had knocked them out twice at this stage in the last three seasons.

On the other hand, Manchester United’s Paul Scholes scored his last European in October 2006, but he made up for all that, when a scored a superb stunner from 30 yards. This was the only goal scored in the whole match against Barcelona.

The English Premiership is routinely labelled the best league in the world. We know it’s the richest and the best packaged. Now Man United and Chelsea have the perfect stage on which to send their message to the world. 

The Chelsea vs Manchester United match will air Live in India on Ten Sports on on 21st May, 2008 at 11:30 p.m. (21st May) to 2:30 a.m. IST (22nd May)

Missed out on the matches that got the two teams to the finals? Both these games will be aired on the same day (21st May) to get you into perspective.
Manchester United vs Barcelona will be rerun at 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. IST on Ten Sports, India.
Chelsea vs Liverpool will be rerun at 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. IST on Ten Sports, India

It isn’t a big secret that Baseball isn’t very big in India. Very rarely does one get to watch a Live baseball match. However, ESPN will be broadcasting the New York Yankees vs Minnesota Twins game Live for Indian viewers. Personally I don’t know much about baseball nor do I intend on watching this one. Now for the background check:

In their final season at Yankee Stadium, the Yankees are trying to do what few teams have been able to accomplish: change the culture of the organization while continuing an aggressive pursuit of a championship. The Yankees have a new manager this year in Joe Girardi and new leadership in Hank and Hal Steinbrenner, who have taken over for their father, George [More info: NYT | Wikipedia]The star players include: Jeter, Giambi, and Abreu on the batting side, while C. Wang takes up for the pitching side. 

The twins on the other hand have last year had their first losing season since 2000. 2008 has been an average year for the team. Beyond that I can’t say much as I don’t quite follow the game of baseball [More Info: NYT | Wikipedia]. The star players of Minnesota Twins include: J. Mauer (Batting), J. Morneau, with Hernandez and Bonser on the pitching side. 

The Major League Baseball: Minnesotta Twins vs New York Yankees game held at Minneapolis, New York will be aired Live on ESPN India at 3:00 a.m. IST on 31st May 2008.

Being that we are not familiar with the teams and players, let us know if watching this match will get us hooked on to baseball. 

Forward Nicolas Mario Almada of Argentina scored a golden goal in the 73rd minute to steer Argentina to a hard fought 2-1 win over India in Sunday’s final to lift their first Sultan Azlan Shah hockey tournament title here. The match had to be decided in sudden death after both teams failed to break the 1-1 deadlock within regulation time.

This in itself is a victory for the Indian team who have come a long way from failing to qualify for the Olympics. The Indian Olympic Association lauded the performance of the national hockey team which won the silver medal at the Sultan Azlan Shah tournament, saying the performance would be the benchmark for building a future side. “The boys have shown what motivation can do to them, they have shown how it is when sportspersons come together,” IOA General Secretary Randhir Singh said in his congratulatory message for the side.

“It is no mean feat to match up to a team like Argentina and defeat three other Olympic qualifying sides, especially after having failed to qualify for the Olympics,” he said.

In the preliminary rounds, Argentina had outplayed India with 12 juniors in their squad, 5-1. But in the final, India played exceptionally well with fine and fast counter attacks but just failed to get it right where it mattered in the scoring zone.

Argentina, who qualified for the final for the first time in the tournament, went on the offensive from the first whistle. However it was India who took the lead through Sandeep Singh off their first penalty corner in the 11th minute when he scored from a high flick, which sailed past goalkeeper Manuel Juan Vivaldi. It was his ninth goal and confirmed him as top scorer in the tournament.

Let’s hope for the best for Indian Hockey, our national sport. 2008 might just take us to the top. 

Update: Schedules have been posted. Check out the complete TV schedules and timings for Euro 2008 for Indian Television.

It’s party time for soccer fans of India as all the matches of the UEFA European Football Championship 2008 starting June 7 will be telecast in India live and exclusive by the ESPN network, and the team of My Sports India is going to make sure all its readers get up-to-date matches info, TV timings and previews.

The sports broadcaster also announced a host of production and marketing initiatives aimed at enhancing this exciting property lined up for soccer enthusiasts around the country. UEFA will showcase a bonanza of 31 thrilling matches including 24 first round matches, 4 quarterfinals, 2 semifinal matches from June 19. The finals will be played in Vienna on June 29. The tournament will be held in eight cities: Basel, Geneva, Vienna Klagenfurt, Innsbruck, Salzburg, Zurich and Berne.

Speaking on the occasion, ESPN Software India Managing Director R.C. Venkateish said, “India today consumes more international soccer than ever before. The reach of Barclays Premier League has been growing at more than 40 percent per annum since 2005. We expect impressive ratings for UEFA Euro 2008 as it is one of the most prestigious and recognizable sporting properties in the world.

Update: Schedules have been posted. Check out the complete TV schedules and timings for Euro 2008 for Indian Television

After a disappointing 1-2 defeat to Real Mallorca in the Copa del Rey, Real Madrid has got another rare shock this season. Real Madrid has been in an impressive run this season with only 2 loses out of 18 league matches. Real Madrid is still leading the league table with 44 points, keeping the seven points clear of second-placed Barcelona on the league race. However, they have not been at their best in the last two matches including the 2-0 league victory against Real Zaragoza, where they were lucky enough to pick up three points along with the heroics of goal keeper Iker Casillas. Now, the only good news for Real Madrid is that they are going to face bottom-placed team Levante in their next league match at the Ciudad de Valencia on Sunday.

However, Real Madrid can not feel relaxed considering that the fact that they have suffered a humiliating defeat to Levante last season in front of their own supporters. Levante has been on a poor form this season with only 8 points from 18 matches. Their 14 league defeats so far are enough to show their frustrating league performance. So, it is apparent that Real Madrid is favorite in the match, though Levante will try their best to count the home advantage.

Real Madrid Vs Levante Live on 18th May, 08 at 11.25 PM IST on Star Sports India.

Organised by Guinness as the title sponsor, the Tour attracts Asia’s top cuemasters with Asian Professional Billiards Union (APBU). With sanctioned players from Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines, Vietnam, Korea, Japan, Thailand, India, China and Chinese Taipei taking part. 

The 3 Preliminaries of the game will be held on ESPN India on 30th May, 2008 from 2:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. IST. The Quarter finals will be aired on the next day, the 31st of May, from 9:30 a.m. onwards. 

The Semis and Final will be aired on 1st June, at 9:30 a.m. IST. 

The 2008 Thomas & Uber Cup will be the 25th tournament of the Thomas Cup and 22nd tournament of the Uber Cup, the men’s and women’s team competition in badminton, respectively. It will be held in Jakarta, Indonesia from May 11 to May 18, 2008.

The Thomas Cup, sometimes called the World Men’s Team Championships, is an international badminton competition contested by the men’s national badminton teams of the member nations of the Badminton World Federation (BWF), the sport’s global governing body. The Uber cup is the women’s team competition. Both are held together. The venue this year is Jakarta, Indonesia. 

Currently, China is dominating both the Thomas as well as the Uber cup
Malaysia proved too strong for minnows New Zealand
Canada proves to be a popular badminton opponent
South Korea in a losing ploy at Thomas Cup

The Uber Cup (women’s) 2008 will be aired Live on Neo Sports India on 17th May at 11:30 p.m. IST (18:00 GMT) and is scheduled to go on till 3:30 a.m. the next day. 

The Thomas Cup (Men’s) 2008 will be aired Live on Neo Sports India on 18th May at 11:30 p.m. IST and will go on till 3:30 a.m. the next day. 

Update: Neo Sports has cleared airtime for the semi finals of the Thomas and Uber Cup. The two semi finals will be held on 15th and 16th May both beginning at 11:30 a.m.

A relatively new look Indian hockey team will take on Canada on Sunday in the Seventeenth Edition of the Sultan Azlan Shah tournament held in Malaysia. The Indian hockey team are currently last in the Seven nation tournament and will look to get their act together when they take on third place Canada on Sunday. The Indian team had earlier paid for sloppy defending as Argentina scored an emphatic 5-1 win at Ipoh on Friday. India’s only goal was scored by Sandeep Singh in the 25th minute of the first half. Argentina led 2-1 at half-time. India had earlier lost 4-3 against New Zealand in their opening game on Thursday. With nine new players in this squad, the Indian team had just no coordination. The defending was pathetic and Argentina scored most of their goals from the right.

Argentina rode the brilliance of Facundo Callioni, who struck three goals while Pedro Ibarra and Tomas Incento chipped in with a goal each in a horribly one-sided contest.India had experience on the sidelines. Former Olympian and one of the world’s best known defenders Pargat Singh tried his best to pass on his tips, but there were many holes in India’s defence. Pargat is in Malaysia as India’s manager.Chief coach Ajay Bansal was simply clueless as Argentina almost went away with a tennis scoreline-like victory margin. Meanwhile the Canadians will be high on confidence after a 1-0 victory over Belgium.

The match airs live on ESPN on Sunday the 11th at 13.30 IST.

The iPhone has become the most used mobile platform for accessing the internet and we thought it would be only right to have an iPhone edition available for our users. So if you have an iPhone or iPod touch, point your mobile-safari to Mysportsindia.com and it will automatically display the website in an iPhone optimised page. 

The site is still in BETA state but fully functional. We hope it helps in your mobile viewing experience of My Sports India. 

- Admin

The top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers and the fourth-seeded Utah Jazz continue their battle in the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinals. This is the fourth time the Lakers and Jazz have met in the playoffs. Los Angeles defeated the Jazz in seven games in the 1988 West semis. Utah knocked out the Lakers in five, 4-1, in the 1997 semifinals and swept LA in the 1998 conference finals. The Lakers had little trouble winning the first game of this series and will probably be looking to sweep the Jazz in Four. Kobe Bryant of the Lakers who has reportedly won this year’s NBA MVP award is looking in good touch and with the help of Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom and Luke Walton will be looking to put it past a relatively youthful Jazz team.

Utah, which won its second straight Northwest Division crown during the regular season, has made it to the West semis for the second straight year. The Jazz needed six games to eliminate Tracy McGrady and the fifth-seed Houston Rockets in the quarterfinals. Point guard Deron Williams led Utah in scoring (20.8 ppg) and assists (8.5 apg) in the opening round, while All-Star forward Carlos Boozer contributed 16.0 points and 11.7 rebounds per game. The Jazz will be looking to put in a strong performance in game two to avoid going down 2-0 in this best of seven game series.

Match airs live on 10th May on ESPN at 5.30 a.m IST