My Sports India: Match Previews, TV Channel timings, and important sports news stories

The 2008 Men’s Hockey Champions Trophy is the 30th edition of Hockey Champions Trophy for men. It will be held in Rotterdam, Netherlands from June 21 to June 29, 2008.

Participating nations are Australia, Korea, Netherlands, Spain, Germany (defending champions)
and Argentina.

Zee Sports India will be covering this event Live. However, if you want to check it out online, visit WorldHockey.tv and you can get free access to Live matches as well as replays. Here’s the the complete schedule for the tournament: read all »

The Championships, Wimbledon (commonly referred to as Wimbledon) is the oldest tennis championship in the world. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments and the only one played on grass courts. Although I’m sure any tennis fan already knows all of this and more.

So without further ado, here’s how its going to happen on Indian television. Star Sports India will broadcast the matches Live. The matches will begin at 4:00 p.m. going right up to 11:30 p.m.

To check out the draw for the tournament, head over to the Wimbledon website, where they have complete details of who is playing whom and a flash based Slamtracker which is very convenient. read all »

Kimi Raikkonen took Ferrari’s 200th pole position on Saturday as he and team mate Felipe Massa dominated qualifying for the French Grand Prix. Others may have set the practice pace, but when it mattered the red cars had a small but crucial margin over McLaren in the final sector. Raikkonen put in a lap of 1m 16.449s compared to Massa’s 1m 16.490s. 

Lewis Hamilton was third despite admitting to making mistakes on the exit to Turn Seven on each of his fast laps. His best time was 1m 16.693s which dislodged Renault’s Fernando Alonso (1m 16.840s) and Toyota’s Jarno Trulli (1m 16.920s), but the Englishman will start 13th when his ten-place grid penalty from Montreal is taken into account. He must, incidentally, run the same fuel load as that with which he qualified, even though he starts outside the top 10.

Unfortunately, our Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil came in 18th and 19th position respectively. Tough luck Force India, tough luck.

The Race day itself starts at 4:30 p.m. on the 22nd, with the actual race starting at 5:15 p.m. on Star Sports.

Just two weeks after the Triseries tournament at Bangladesh, Pakistan hosts the Asia Cup 2008. Six teams are expected to take part in the tournament, including Bangladesh, India, Hong Kong, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the UAE. This will be the first Asia Cup hosted by Pakistan; previously political tensions between India and Pakistan did not permit Pakistan to host the event.

Here’s the complete TV schedule for the Asia cup on ESPN India and Star Cricket.

ESPN will broadcast the Group A matches played at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore. The matches begin at 3:20 p.m. 

24th June: Bangladesh vs UAE
25th June: Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh
26th June: Sri Lanka vs UAE

Star Sports on the other hand will be much more comprehensive. There will be a 1 hour preview of the match at 2:30 p.m., followed by the game at 3:30 p.m. There will also be a 1 hour match review after the match at 11:30 p.m. The Group B matches will be played at National Stadium, Karachi, Pakistan

24th June: Pakistan vs Hong Kong
25th June: India vs Hong Kong
26th June: Pakistan vs India 

The other six matches - to be played from 28th June to 4th July - will be decided later on depending on the points earned by each team. And you can count on us to keep you posted on those results. 

Turkey, which entered the European championships with 40-1 odds to win the tournament, scored a 3-1 penalty kicks victory over Croatia to set up a semifinal match with record three-time champion Germany. After scoring decisive goals late in its last two matches against Switzerland and the Czech Republic, Turkey stunned Croatia when substitute Semih Senturk crashed in a shot with the last kick of the 120-minute match at the Ernst Happel stadium in Vienna to force the shootout. Ivan Klasnic’s header a minute earlier appeared to have sent Turkey out. The Turks now move to Switzerland for its game against Germany on June 25 in Basle. Turkey beat the Swiss 2-1 in its second game and then managed to come from 2-0 down to edge the Czechs 3-2, with Nihat Kahveci netting twice in the final three minutes. It lost the opener 3-0 to Portugal. Croatia manager Slaven Bilic said Turkey’s win owed to “something special” that has surrounded them in this tournament and that his team was stronger in open play. He said the timing of Senturk’s goal destroyed his players’ confidence.

Midfielder Luca Modric, praised by Bilic for his play in the tournament, missed Croatia’s first penalty. He slid the ball wide to the right and Arda Turan scored for Turkey. After Darijo Srna and Senturk made their teams’ second kicks, Croatia’s Ivan Rakitic fired his attempt wide. Altintop converted to give Turkey a 3-1 lead and goalkeeper Rustu Recber, playing only because first choice Volkan Demiral was suspended, then dived to stop a shot from Mladen Petric. His save ended the shootout, sending Turkish fans and players into celebration and the Croatian players down on their knees in the center circle. Minutes earlier, it was the Croatians who danced wildly, having scored the game’s first goal in the 30th minute of extra time. The team’s entire bench, led by gray-suited coach Bilic, stormed onto the field to celebrate Klasnic’s header.

Terim said he will have to asses the damage of last night’s victory at the team hotel today. Frontline striker Nihat Kahveci limped out with a thigh problem and Tuncay Sanli, Turan and Emre Asik will all miss the Germany game through suspension after receiving yellow cards. Turkey’s best previous European finish came when it reached the quarterfinals in 2000. It then went on to finish in third place at the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea.

Germany overpowered Portugal 3-2 to reach the semifinals of soccer’s European Championship for the first time since 1996. Bastian Schweinsteiger returned from suspension last night to score one goal and set up two in the first quarterfinal in Basel, Switzerland. Germany will face either Croatia or Turkey in its first semifinal since winning a record third European title 12 years ago. Schweinsteiger missed Germany’s last game after getting a red card against Croatia. He returned to open the scoring in the 22nd minute, then provided free kicks which Miroslav Klose and Michael Ballack headed in for goals. Nuno Gomes and Helder Postiga scored for Portugal, which was attempting to reach its third straight semifinal. The loss ended the five-year reign of Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, who will take over English Premier League club Chelsea on July 1. Scolari’s counterpart Low was serving a one-game suspension after being sent to the stands during the win over Austria in Germany’s last match.

Portugal had the first scoring chance yesterday in the 15th minute as Deco sent a pass to Simao, whose shot was saved by Germany goalkeeper Jens Lehmann. Joao Moutinho was then undecided whether to head or kick a cross from Jose Bosingwa and the ball went off his thigh and over the crossbar. Germany took the lead in the 22nd minute when Lukas Podolski took Ballack’s return pass down the left side before centering a ball that Schweinsteiger slid inside the near post. Less than five minutes later, Schweinsteiger lofted a freekick into the area which an unmarked Klose headed in for his first goal of the tournament. Portugal made it 2-1 five minutes before halftime after Lehmann came out to block Cristiano Ronaldo’s shot. The rebound went to Gomes, whose left-foot effort evaded defender Christoph Metzelder on the goal line.

The Germans increased their lead 13 minutes into the second half as Schweinsteiger sent another freekick into the area and Ballack appeared to push off a defender before heading it in. Scolari said Ballack, his future player at Chelsea, should have been called for a foul. Postiga, who entered the game in the 73rd minute, headed in Nani’s cross with three minutes left make it 3-2. The Portuguese, runners-up to Greece at Euro 2004, pushed on during four minutes of injury time though couldn’t get a clear shot on goal.

Force India Formula One Team will be looking for an upturn in fortune in the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours after disappointing results in Monaco and Canada.

Force India drivers Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella’s outing in Candain Grand prix ended in a heart-break as both retired midway through the race. Before that Sutil suffered a crash in Monaco Grand Prix that dashed his hopes of a podium finish. The Vijay Mallya co-owned team will look to register a finish for bopth the cars at the Magny-Cours circuit in the heart of rural France June 20-22. The race will be on the eight round of the 18-round series, and the first of seven consecutive races in Europe.

The Qualifying round will begin at 5:27 p.m. on the 21st of June, on Star Sports.
The Race day itself starts at 4:30 p.m. on the 22nd, with the actual race starting at 5:15 p.m. on Star Sports.

The Boston Celtics capped the greatest single-season turnaround in National Basketball Association history by winning their record 17th championship with a 131-92 rout of the Los Angeles Lakers. Kevin Garnett had 26 points and 14 rebounds for the Celtics, who won the best-of-seven NBA Finals four games to two for their first title in 22 years. The Celtics have now won 9 of 11 NBA Finals matchups against the Lakers, whose 14 championships are the second-most in league history. The two franchises have combined for half of the NBA’s 62 titles. Rajon Rondo added 21 points, 8 assists and 6 steals for Boston, which last won an NBA championship in 1986 with a team led by Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish. This year’s club was led by the All-Star trio of Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce. Allen scored 26 points and Pierce 17.

After losing Game 5 in Los Angeles to send the series back to Boston, the Celtics outscored the Lakers 34-15 during the second quarter at TD Banknorth Garden to open a 23-point halftime lead. Garnett’s eight baskets at halftime were as many as the Lakers scored as a team during the first half. Boston extended its lead to as many as 42 points in the second half to finish 13-1 at home during the postseason. NBA Most Valuable Player Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 22 points on 7 of 22 shooting.

The Celtics’ championship capped a campaign in which they won a league-best 66 games during the regular season. It was a record-setting turnaround for the franchise, which had the second-worst record in the NBA last season at 24-58 and finished in last place in the Eastern Conference. Boston was given 75-1 odds to win a championship after last year’s NBA Finals. The Celtics’ odds dropped after the offseason addition of All-Stars Garnett and Allen, who joined Pierce to spark the team’s 42-game improvement, the biggest one-year turnaround in NBA history. The Celtics finally won on the road in the next round to capture the Eastern Conference title against the Detroit Pistons in six games and set up another meeting with the Lakers in the NBA Finals. Boston won the first two games at home and after losing Game 3 in Los Angeles, took control of the Finals by rallying from a 24-point deficit to win Game 4 on the road. It was the biggest comeback in NBA Finals history.

Germany coach Joachim Loew is suspended for his side’s Euro 2008 quarter-final match against Portugal, Europe’s governing body UEFA said on Tuesday. The disciplinary code of the tournament states that any player or officials sent off is automatically suspended for one game (Article 9 of Disciplinary Regulations), in this case Thursday’s knockout match in Basle, Switzerland.

UEFA director of communications William Gaillard told a press briefing in Vienna that the organization’s disciplinary committee will be looking into the sending off of Loew on Wednesday. Loew and his Austrian counterpart Josef Hickersberger were sent off during the first half of Monday’s Group B game between Germany and Austria, which the three-time champions won 1-0 to advance to the quarter-finals, while Austria were knocked out. Loew protested his innocence and rather attacked the fourth match official for interefering all the time.

If Loew’s suspension stands, he would have no access to the players after they arrive at the stadium for their quarter-final against Portugal. He will not be allowed to communicate with the players at all in the stadium. He could though, participate in the pre- and post-match news conference. Loew said he had no explanation for the sending off and for his part issued sharp criticism on the fourth official Damir Skomina of Slovenia.

Germany take on Portugal in the first quarter final of Euro 2008 on the 20th of June. Match will be shown live on ESPN from 00.05 IST onwards.

Sania Mirza might have suffered a first-round exit in her comeback match but she managed to retain her ranking of 33 in the latest Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) list Monday.

Sunitha Rao, who reached the quarterfinal final of the DFS Classic in Birmingham last week, jumped eleven places to a career-high 149. This has been a good year for Sunitha, who in May achieved her career high doubles ranking of 108. She along with Hungarian Melinda Czink won the ITF doubles title in Croatia last month and also made a quarterfinal appearance in the DFS Classic.

In the men’s section, Mahesh Bhupathi, who has not been in his best form losing early in French Open and Gerry Weber Open in Germany, maintained his 13th position in the ATP rankings. Leander Paes entered his first final of the season at Gerry Weber last week with new Czech partner Lukas Dlouhy. But the doubles ranking of the Indian tennis ace remained at the 23rd spot. Rohan Bopanna climbed two places to break into the top-50 rankings in d

England batsman Kevin Pietersen’s reverse-handed shot that took New Zealand by surprise two days ago was cleared by cricket’s rule-making body today. In his match-winning innings of 110 not out, Pietersen launched New Zealand medium-pacer Scott Styris for two sixes after switching his stance from right- to left-handed at the last moment. His performance ignited a debate about the shot, which had already come under scrutiny from the International Cricket Council at a meeting in Dubai in May.

“The MCC believes that the switch-hit stroke is exciting for the game of cricket,” Marylebone Cricket Club, the sport’s rule-making body, said in a statement. “It conforms to the Laws of Cricket and will not be legislated against.” The MCC ruling said the shot was legitimate because it did not give an unfair advantage to batsmen, and said it was a risky tactic that “offers bowlers a good chance of taking a wicket.”

Pietersen, 27, known for his flamboyant stroke play, last played the shot in an international match against Sri Lanka in 2006 before stunning Styris with his display in England’s 114- run victory at the Riverside Ground in Chester-le-Street, north- east England. “It’s important that we as players are innovative, and if this shot helps make cricket more exciting and entertaining for spectators then that has to be good for the sport,” Pietersen said in a statement.

The second of England’s five-game one-day series with New Zealand takes place in Birmingham and will be shown live on star cricket at 15.15 IST

Holland victorious yet again, saving Italy a seat at the QF

Holland were every bit as professional as coach Marco van Basten promised they would be as they outclassed Romania 2-0 to send Victor Piturca’s side home and hand Italy a Euro 2008 lifeline.

Second-half strikes from Klaas Jan Huntelaar and Robin van Persie at Bern’s Stade de Suisse Wankdorf earned the Oranje - already assured of a quarter-final berth and top spot in Group C - their third win of the tournament.

Defeat for the Dutch would have seen both 2006 World Cup finalists Italy and France eliminated, but even a much-changed Holland line-up were simply too good for Romania.

Italy manage to edge out France 2-0, getting themselves to the QFs

Italy beat 10-man France 2-0 in Zurich to advance to the quarter-finals with a little help from Holland’s victory over Romania.

Andrea Pirlo put the world champions in front with a 25th minute penalty after Eric Abidal had brought down Luca Toni inside the area.

Abidal was shown a straight red, leaving the French with a mountain to climb following the earlier loss of Franck Ribery to injury.

But Italy were still made to suffer before Daniele De Rossi’s 62nd minute free-kick took a deflection off Thierry Henry and found the back of the net.

The turn of events completed a terrible tournament for Les Bleus, who were held to goalless draw against Romania in their Group C opener before being hammered 4-1 by Holland.

Romania’s 2-0 defeat to Holland saw Italy finish second in the group behind the Dutch. They will now take on Group D winners Spain on Sunday in Vienna but the Azzurri will have to do without key players Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso, both among a plethora of cautions against the French.