India in tough group

Colombo: Defending champions India were Monday clubbed with DPR Korea, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan in a tough group A for the 2010 AFC Challenge Cup to be held here from February 16-27. The draw puts Tajikistan, Myanmar, Bangladesh and hosts Sri Lanka in Group A. India, who won the competition in 2008 at home, have already qualified for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup in Doha. They will field an U-23 side in the tournament.

Brazil backing

London: England’s bid to host the World Cup in 2018 has been boosted by Brazil’s president offering his support ahead of a crucial week of campaigning. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, whose country will stage the 2014 World Cup, believes England deserves to stage the tournament again after having not staged football’s biggest event since 1966. The endorsement came a day after FIFA vice president Jack Warner performed a U-turn by backing England.

Mario leaves

London: Former BMW-Sauber team principal Mario Theissen has left Formula One following the carmaker’s withdrawal and will continue as BMW motorsport director, BMW said on Monday

PGTI Masters

New Delhi: The cream of Professional Golf Tour of India’s Order of Merit will vie for top honours when the Rs 80 lakh PGTI Masters tees off at the Classic Golf Resort, Manesar on December 16. The event will feature PGTI’s top 60 Order of Merit players from the 2009 season in a 72-hole stroke play championship.

Meet cancelled

Karachi: Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has dropped plans to host a four-nation international tournament before the 2010 World Cup after getting lukewarm response from invited countries due to the security situation in the country. PHF secretary Asif Bajwa admitted that the plan to host the four-nation event had not come off due to the security situation in the country. “Because of the security conditions at the moment in Pakistan no team is willing to play in Pakistan and that is a big setback for us,” Bajwa said.

Comeback plan

Karachi: Pakistan’s troubled captain Younis Khan will return to action this week when he leads his domestic side Habib Bank in the Quaid-e-Azam trophy in Islamabad. It will be Younis’ first match since withdrawing from New Zealand’s Test tour after losing a one-day International series to the same opponents in Abu Dhabi in early November

FICA view

Melbourne: The Future Tours Programme (FTP) has become an outdated concept and the International Cricket Council (ICC) will have to reinvent its scheduling structure to cut down on the growing number of “meaningless matches”, feels the Federation of International Cricketers’ Association (FICA).