Imran Khan signs with Geo Super for World Cup 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
Geo Super has exclusively signed Imran Khan to participate, provide commentary, and be the brand ambassador for its Cricket World Cup presentation in Pakistan.
Imran Khan is one of the icons who ruled the international cricket for two decades and also led the Pakistani team to World Cup glory in 1992.
Khan will feature in Geo Super expert reviews, opinions and analyses leading up to and during the ICC Cricket World Cup matches due to start on February 19. The tournament is one of the most widely-viewed sporting events in the world and the number one TV event for Pakistan in terms of revenue and TV ratings.
Geo Super has the exclusive rights to broadcast all the matches of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 over cable and satellite networks throughout Pakistan.
Prior to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, nine Cricket World Cups have been organised by the ICC. Australia have emerged winner on most occasions, with four. Closely following is West Indies, who won the inaugural and the very next World Cup. India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have won one World Cup each.
Having captained Pakistan more or less throughout 1982-1992, Khan had retired from cricket at the end of the 1987 World Cup campaign, but returned after a presidential call to "rise above one's self" and answered the nation's call, rejoining the Pakistan team in 1988 as the skipper. At 39, Khan led his teammates to Pakistan's first and only World Cup victory in 1992. He has a record of 3,807 runs and 362 wickets in Test cricket, making him one of eight World-class cricketers to have achieved an 'all-rounder's triple' in Test matches, widely recognised as one of the best leaders the game has seen. Khan was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame on July 14th, 2010.
Labels: Geo, Imran Khan, Sports
posted @ 8:38 AM,
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U.S. women take gold at worlds; the ill-fated Commonwealth Games
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Just three weeks after the U.S. men's basketball team defeated host nation Turkey in the finals of their world championship, the U.S. women's team knocked off the hosts from the Czech Republic, 89-69, to capture the women's title in Karlovy Vary on Sunday. Angel McCoughtry led the U.S. with 18 points and Diana Taurasi added 16. The victory also gave the U.S. squad an automatic berth in the tournament at the London Olympics.
In recent years, the U.S. women have been more dominant than their male counterparts. Since 1979, the women have medaled at all nine world championships, taking six golds, a silver and two bronzes. The men have won only three golds over the past 14 tournaments. Though the women's championships have been held in countries such as Chile, Colombia, Peru and Malaysia, the U.S. has never hosted any of the 16 women's tournaments held to date. The 2014 championships will be held in Indonesia.
At a basketball summit held in conjunction with the championships, FIBA officials suggested ways to improve and bring more attention to the women's game, including the idea of lowering the rims from their present height of 10 feet. The idea was favorably received, but would still need to be tested by various federations over a prolonged period of time before officials considered it for permanent implementation. Officials also discussed changing the timing of the women's championships to another time of year, or a different yearly cycle, so as not to conflict with the men, who inevitably garner more attention. That proposal, if accepted, could be implemented within the next few years.
*****
On Sunday, more than 60,000 spectators filled Nehru Stadium for the opening ceremonies of the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India as Prince Charles officially opened the Games and fireworks lit up the night sky. The evening brought a hint of satisfaction to the city, but scandal, building delays and tragedy have rocked the run-up to the ill-fated Games that were to feature 6,500 athletes from 71 nations.
Awarded the Games in 2003 on an announced budget of $100 million, organizers only began building in 2008. With costs soaring to an estimated $10 billion, builders still pieced together venues that are either unfinished or unsanitary. In July, reports surfaced that construction firms were inflating costs and forging documents about meeting building codes. On Sept. 21, a footbridge connecting a parking lot to Nehru Stadium -- the venue for track and field, as well as opening and closing ceremonies -- collapsed, injuring 27 workers. The next day, part of the ceiling at the weightlifting venue tumbled.
Suresh Kalmidi, the organizing committee president, has encouraged the city to place a bid to host the 2020 Olympics, a laughable suggestion given the crisis that has surrounded these Games. Village mishaps ranged from unfinished wiring, poor plumbing and insufficient furnishings to more serious issues of cracks in unstable foundations and excrement left in rooms, the latter presumably coming from desperate construction crewman called in to toil under inhuman conditions. Onlookers described scenes of many workers living in tents or iron huts near unfinished venues as their children played in filthy water nearby. Most worked for below the $4.50 minimum wage with no nearby toilet facilities beyond the ones they were constructing. To date, 42 have died from a combination of building accidents, illnesses brought on by dengue fever and the living conditions during an oppressive heat and an extended monsoon season.
Officials have also had little time to prepare security in a city where on Sept. 19, gunmen on motorcycles shot two members of a Thai TV crew. As a result of the lack of security and unsanitary conditions numerous teams threatened boycotts or delayed flights, and several prominent athletes actually withdrew, including: Australia's Dani Samuels, the world champ in the discus throw; Britain's Peter Waterfield, the Olympic diving silver medalist; and Britain's Beth Tweddle, the floor exercise world champion. When Phillips Idowu, the world champ in the triple jump and a father of two withdrew two weeks ago, he left a Twitter message saying, "Sorry people, but I have children to think about." If only Games organizers had done the same.
*****
With the New York Marathon a month away, defending champ Meb Keflezighi showed he's in peak form with a victory in the Rock n' Roll Half Marathon on Sunday in San Jose. Keflezighi, 35, ran side-by-side with his Mammoth Track Club teammate Patrick Smyth for the first five kilometers before assuming control. He won the race in 1:01:45. Brian Medigovich finished second in 1:04:55. Blake Russell, a marathoner on the 2008 U.S. Olympic team, won the women's race in 1:11:55. It was her first race since having a child.
According to Merhawi Keflezighi -- Meb's agent and brother -- the U.S. Olympic silver medalist from Athens has been training with an eye on what may be the greatest challenge of his career: a confrontation with Ethiopia's Haile Gebrselassie, who warmed up for his New York Marathon debut by winning the half marathon at the Great North Run in Newcastle, England in 59 minutes, 33 seconds. Gebrselassie said he had hoped to have better competition to push him in the race, but he was free and clear from the halfway point. Gebrselassie plans to arrive in New York only a few days before the race. Keflezighi will arrive with five or six days to spare, though he is just flying in from the west coast. The pair will have good company in the loaded field that includes Kenyans Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot, the four-time Boston Marathon champ, and Martin Lel, a two-time winner in New York; Brazil's Marilson Gomes dos Santos, another two-time winner; and Morocco's Abderrahim Goumri, a two-time runner-up in the race.
*****
In the meantime, the Chicago Marathon will feature some familiar faces on Sunday. Both Joan Benoit Samuelson and Steve Jones, winners of the race in 1985, will honor the 25th anniversary of their near-world-best victories by racing again next weekend. A year after her triumph in the inaugural Olympic women's marathon, Samuelson finished in a U.S.-record 2:21:21. Jones, the rugged Welshman who now lives in Colorado, missed a world best by one second, defending his 1984 title in 2:07:13.
Top contenders in the elite fields include Russia's Liliya Shobukhova and Germany's Irina Mikitenko on the women's side, and Ethiopia's Tsegaye Kebede and Kenyans Sammy Wanjiru and Robert Kiprono for the men. Top U.S. hope Ryan Hall withdrew from the race because of training fatigue.
*****
European riders dominated the first week of action at the World Equestrian Games in Lexington, Kentucky. Being held for the first time in the U.S., the event is the sport's premier showcase outside of the Olympic Games.
Germany's Michael Jung won the individual eventing competition, as Great Britain took home team gold, followed by Canada and New Zealand. The U.S. contingent placed fourth. The New Zealand team featured 54-year-old Mark Todd, a legend in the sport and the individual gold medalist at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics. Todd retired after the 2000 Games, but started a comeback two years ago. His original horse, Gandolf, died last winter, and Todd took on a new horse for competitions this season named Gross Valley.
Dutch rider Edward Gal swept through the dressage competition, sweeping gold aboard Moorlands Totilas in the individual, team and Grand Prix Special events. Laura Bechtolsheimer of Great Britain finished second while Steffen Peters of the U.S. took third.
U.S. riders enjoyed more success in the non-Olympic event of reining, a predominantly western riding competition that entails a series of spins and quick stops unlike its dressage cousin. Tom McCutcheon rode Gunners Special Nite to a gold medal, with U.S. teammate Craig Schmersal second and defending champ Duane Latimer of Canada third.
*****
Olympic hopeful Sarah Veress is turning a near miss into a new opportunity. The Stanford grad placed third in the hammer throw at the 2008 U.S. Olympic trials in Eugene, Ore. with a toss of 68.60 meters, but failed to earn a spot in Beijing because she had not met the A-standard (69.50m) required to earn a place at the Games. Instead, fourth-place finisher Loree Smith ended up joining Jessica Cosby and Amber Campbell at the Games.
On Sunday, Veress, 27, won the 75-kilogram division at the U.S. Weightlifting Open in Colorado Springs, Colo. giving her hope in a second Olympic sport. Veress had dabbled in soccer and jumping events before settling on the hammer throw. She naturally incorporated weight training into her preparation for the event, but had never competed until last week. She recorded a total of 164 kilos in the snatch and the clean and jerk events.
Labels: ICC Women’s Cricket Challenge, Sports
posted @ 9:24 AM,
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The lighter side
Sunday, August 15, 2010
During the show these influential politicians gave their strong opinions about the plight of sport in Pakistani. Ch. Shujaat on this note expressed, “Promotion of every sport is the need of the hour. People are fed up of reading news about terrorism and crimes while sports provide them with some sort of entertainment. We can not deny the role of sport in the modern age because it produces healthy societies.”
Ch. Shujaat confessed that in the past politically influential people were given important designations such that of cricket, hockey, football, squash, tennis and many others. The same trend is being continued till date. A number of non-professionals who know nothing about sports are running sports federations like Ch. Shujaat is heading the Kabbadi Federation without any prior knowledge or being a player. According to him it is very cheap sport and everybody can play easily and that during kabbadi matches the stadiums are full with crowed and kabbadi lovers. Ch. Shujaat further maintained, “Imran Khan is stepping forward successfully as a politician but it would be better for the future of the Pakistan cricket if Imran gives his precious time to cricket. He urged that sports federations should be run by an honest, capable and competent person rather than politically influential ones.”
He deplorably said that Ijaz Butt is still working as the chairman of PCB despite humiliating defeat of the Pakistani cricket team during their tours of Australia and England. He further said, “He is still the chairman because of his strong political affiliations with the President of Pakistan. This practice should be an end.”
Ch. Shujaat revealed old secrets of General Zia ul Haq’s regime when he appointed General Safdar as the Chairman of WAPDA and later as the Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board. But Safdar refused to accept the PCB position stating his lack of experience regarding cricket, but then Zia reminded him that he did not have to know about WAPDA to run it. The same approach of politicising sports has been continuing since decades. This approach should come to an end and the politicians should not run sports federations of the country.
During the show Ch. Shujaat showed his keen interest in the promotion of women tennis. But Senator Dilawer Abbas sadly expressed, “Within the country nobody is ready to sponsor tennis while everybody is ready to sponsor cricket. Cricketers can easily earn millions of dollars annually while tennis players just earn $2500. Government has allocated only few hundred thousands to Pakistan Tennis Federation contrary to its hefty monthly maintenance of the single tennis stadium.”
He said that Prime Minister preferred to allocate Rs.50 millions to the Hockey Federation because of his preference towards President Qasim Zia. He deplorably said that Ijaz Butt is also misusing the powers because of his strong political backing. He further added that one should willingly surrender their powers and separate themselves from the power corridors.
Dilawar further said, “I wish I could construct tennis complexes in the same passion I serve the federation.” He revealed that when he was nominated for the presidential post of the tennis federation, then he asked his contender about tennis. But as his contender did not have enough knowledge, he agreed not to take over the federation.
“The political appointments of ineligible people have destroyed the Pakistani sports. Because of them sports are heading towards a decline.” Senator Dilawer Abbas was of the view. [Also here and here]
Labels: Sports
posted @ 6:07 PM,
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Advertising and Sports
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
We've all seen it. For years, decades, it's been an advertising staple. At World Cup time, our televisions are filled with images of, well, ourselves. The child in Africa watching a fuzzy, analogue signal of his millionaire idol a thousand miles away; the sober Swiss erupting in shouts of joy as the back of the net is rattled; Brazilians celebrating the moment only as Brazilians can, in a beachside bar; and all the rest.
There are few images as likely to resonate with the viewer as the idea that, for the biggest game of the sporting calendar, they are not alone.
One can scarcely imagine this kind of campaign surrounding other sports or events. The Super Bowl relies too heavily on an American audience; rugby and cricket don't stand a chance; even the Olympics are too decentralized to truly attract the world. But the World Cup? All the cliches are true: in most countries, normal life stops.
Housewives who haven't watched a game in years — four years, to be exact — sit beside husbands in front of the TV. Entire villages will gather around the civic set to catch a glimpse of the action. Countries where football already borders on the religious will show unparalleled levels of devotion, with more than a few sick days at work called in, appointments missed and phones switched off.
No wonder the advertisers love the image so much. It is, in our decentralized, digital age, a reminder of our shared humanity, what television might have been, what sport still can be.
But what advertisers love even more is us watching ourselves. That means more advertising revenue. And if the World Cup isn't the best chance there is to catch us all in front of the TV...
That said, it's not really all of us. In fact, it's not even most of us. FIFA used to claim figures of the orders of billions watching each game. Using modern research techniques, various organizations have settled on the viewing figures for the last World Cups. While not of the magnitudes previously claimed, they still make for impressive reading.
According to Sponsorship Intelligence, an agency whose figures FIFA use, 715.1 million people watched the 2006 final between Italy and France. How accurate this figure is is open to debate when one considers the difficulties in gauging audiences in Africa and Asia, as well as those millions who watch the match in a communal setting such as a bar, or even at work.
Some would even argue that this itself is a high estimate, given that it's said to include those who watch a replayed viewing later. Perhaps 400 million watching live is closer to the truth, but measuring those out-of-home viewers is the real problem.
Indeed, with the number of people watching in cafes, bars, town squares and even fanzones around the world, the ripple effect will be felt far beyond living rooms.
And that's before we even think about the tournament as a whole. FIFA, after much wrangling, settled on a figure of 26.29 billion cumulative World Cup views — comfortably enough for everyone on the planet to have watched more than three matches. The vast majority of these were in-home, at 24.2 billion.
These figures put the World Cup streets ahead of any other sporting competition's verifiable figures, including the Olympic Games and the Super Bowl. That's not too surprising in the case of the latter: despite the gargantuan status of American Football's biggest prize, the last World Cup was broadcast in 214 countries and territories and thus has a global reach that even the Olympics would struggle to match.
This year, FIFA expects to see an increased audience. One helpful fact is that, with the games taking place in South African, football-crazy countries in Europe will be able to watch all the games during daytime and evening hours. This was the case in 2006, but not in 2002 when the tournament was held in Japan and South Korea. Furthermore, that the tournament is not attracting quite the number of travelers that was first expected will see many more watching it at home.
Indeed, compare these untold billions of television viewers to the fewer-than-four-million fans expected at the stadiums and it's clear that football is, as much as it is the world's game, the TV's game. [Via]
Labels: Advertising, Sports
posted @ 10:12 AM,
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Beyound Sports
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
On a recent Saturday afternoon, the Celtics took on Magic, cheered on by raucous onlookers. The pace was quick, the players committed and the rivalry intense.
The participants, though, were not the storied Boston and Orlando basketball teams, but boys of the Mahindra-NBA recreational league in India, where the National Basketball Association (NBA) hopes to take advantage of the growing popularity of the sport to gain a foothold, backed by one of the largest corporate groups in the country.
India has famously been a one-sport country, with sponsors, audiences and even politicians obsessed with cricket.
Robust economic growth and greater exposure, however, have recently encouraged commercial and consumer interest in sports from soccer to Formula One motor racing and the Olympics.
“Cricket represents sports one through five in terms of popularity, but for us even a small slice of a billion-plus market represents real opportunity,” said Adam Silver, NBA deputy commissioner, speaking in Los Angeles.
“What we’re seeing in India is a burgeoning middle class, as well as a young population...we see an opportunity over time. It’s hard to resist a population of that size.”
The annual seven-week basketball league, which tipped off in April, drew more than 1,000 eager applicants in Mumbai alone, with young boys and girls flaunting jerseys bearing the names of their more famous counterparts in the United States.
Mahindra and other Indian firms have long been patrons of sport, hiring sportsmen and sponsoring local teams, but they are now looking beyond cricket and even to Olympic glory.
“On the economic front, we’re standing shoulder to shoulder with the best in most fields,” said Shitin Desai, a vice chairman at DSP Merrill Lynch who is on the executive committee of Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ), a non-profit organisation run by sportsmen and business people.
OLYMPIC SHOWING
“Corporates want to get involved because everyone has played and loved a sport at some point, and they feel proud when there is some achievement on the field. It’s a great leveller.”
Every four years, there is a great deal of hand-wringing and soul-searching about India’s poor showing at the Olympics.
Failure has been blamed on everything from a culture that scorns sport as a career, to inadequate funds and facilities and sports federations run by bumbling bureaucrats and politicians.
India allocates about 35 billion rupees ($777 million) every year to sports, a tiny fraction of its $1-trillion GDP.
Steel baron Lakshmi Mittal, the fifth richest man in the world, put aside $10 million of his personal wealth in 2005 to promote sporting talent and encourage potential Olympians after he was disappointed by India’s lone medal at the Athens Games.
Three years later, shooter Abhinav Bindra, backed by Mittal Champions Trust (MCT), won India’s first individual gold in Beijing.
While India’s final haul of three medals paled in comparison to China’s chart-topping 100, it was still a start.
“In India there’s never been a plan, a strategy to identify and nurture talent, to build a pipeline of athletes,” said Manisha Malhotra, a former tennis champion who runs MCT in Mumbai in close coordination with the Mittal family in London.
“At first we thought athletes only lacked money and I’d just have to sign cheques. But what’s really lacking is a plan, a vision, the right knowledge, so we’ve had to study the system and get the best people to help with our athletes.”
BOYCOTT THREAT
MCT supports 60 athletes in six disciplines – athletics, archery, boxing, shooting, squash and wrestling – working with national sports federations to select them, then providing equipment, coaches, physiotherapists, dieticians and training.
“Sport has survived on mediocrity with no accountability. Corporate involvement is key: it’s not about money but cleaning the system, making it efficient, accountable, result-oriented,” said Malhotra, who aims for five medals in the 2012 Olympics.
Stories of mismanagement abound: the shooting federation threatened to boycott Beijing over inadequate ammunition, the men’s hockey team went on strike over pay before the World Cup this year, and facilities for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in October are well behind schedule and over budget.
The main failing was the inability to deliver on plans, said R. Ramraj, who is on the executive committee of OGQ, the brainchild of billiards great Geet Sethi and all-England badminton champion Prakash Padukone, which backs 15 athletes in boxing, badminton, athletics and shooting.
“Our poor position in sports is one more example of a gap between intent and action, and that’s why I think something like OGQ can help,” said Ramraj, a senior adviser to Sequoia Capital, who along with Desai, wrote the first cheques for OGQ in 2006.
“The other difference is that OGQ is driven by sports people, who know the pride, the emotion of winning a medal, seeing the Indian flag being raised and the anthem being played.” – Reuters
posted @ 11:18 AM,
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Al Qaida Designs for 2010 FIFA World Cup
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
According to the Iraqi army, there was a possible terrorist threat to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, a much awaited event which is start in 23 days. The terrorist group Al-Qaeda is suspected to have something to do with this threat on the sporting spectacle.
A Saudi army officer, Abdullah Azzam Saleh Misfar al-Qahtani, was arrested due to suspicions of planning a terrorist attack at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. It seems that Qahtani holds a degree in business administration and in 2007 was caught by the United States military under the false name Muzawar al-Shammari and was released last year. Why would an innocent man go under a false name in the United States? Unless, for example, he is related to Ayman al-Zawahiri, who plans to launch the attacks during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
The Head of Iraqi Army Security Operations, Major General Quassem Atta has announced that Qahtani was arrested two weeks ago and will be charged with a series of other attacks with victims across Iraq, including to some religious sites in Karbala. The Saudi officer is suspected to have launched car bombs against worshipers of Imam-Ali Mosque and Shi’ite worshipers leaving behind more than 80 bodies. How did the Iraqi Army got the tip of the attack, is still unclear.
Labels: FIFA, Security, Sports
posted @ 8:58 AM,
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Brief History of the Opening Ceremonies
Friday, February 12, 2010
The three-time World Heavyweight Champion Muhammad Ali had been to the Olympics before — as a gold-medal–winning athlete at the 1960 Summer Games in Rome. In 1996, he returned, despite being in a noticeably advanced stage of Parkinson's Disease and lit the torch to start the events.
View Brief History of the Opening Ceremonies
Labels: Opening Ceremonies, Sports
posted @ 10:18 PM,
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Learn to Excel
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Sports are the best and healthiest human activities around the world. Many play them and most of us watch them and enjoy but everyone loves to talk about all time favorite baseball. Young people are interested in learning baseball fundamentals and improving their skills and drills . Best thing is that parents also encourage their children to engage in healthy activities and excel through baseball coaching .
Thanks to Zoned is a Baseball and Softball Academy in Bridgewater that they offer training in various sports and help people of all ages to improve their skills at their state of the art indoor facility under the coaching and direct supervision of their staff who are former professional and collegiate players. Zoned’s claim to fame are their baseball camps . Explore the neatly laid out and users friendly site and wee what they are offering and how they can help you improve your baseball drills . Better still see their class schedule and event calander and join them.
Labels: Baseball, Sports, Training
posted @ 9:29 AM,
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