Paes not on poster

Paes not on poster

Besides adjusting to his new doubles partner at the Chennai Open, Leander Paes is also learning the Bollywood ropes while promoting his silverscreen debut Rajdhani Express. As Friday approaches, Paes stares down from billboards across the country. But somehow, Paes the tennis star doesn't find a place on the promotional poster for the Chennai Open. There are Marin Cilic, Janko Tipsarevic, Somdev Devvarman and Mahesh Bhupathi, but no Paes. Official reason: Paes confirmed participation after the posters were made.

HI searches for director

Hockey India's (HI) search for a high performance director has suffered a setback. While earlier reports linked German Paul Lissek to the job, it is now learnt that HI has approached Englishman David Faulkner, who recently stepped down as England Hockey's performance director. Faulkner is credited for hockey's turnaround in England — the men's team finished fourth at London Olympics. The Englishman flew down to Delhi to meet HI secretary general Narinder Batra and even accepted the offer. However, he later refused to take up the job, citing private reasons. Batra said they will interview fresh candidates after the Hockey India League.

Where were Bagan officials?

Mohun Bagan might be facing its worst crisis ever but its top officials aren't to be seen or heard. Even on December 9, when chaos ruled Salt Lake Stadium, the big wigs were not present at the ground. Instead, they were on the phone getting updates from their aides. When skipper Okolie Odafa was red carded and Rahim Nabi was hospitalised after being hit by an object thrown from the terraces, the team was not willing to take the field. The officials, despite knowing that any extreme form of protest would invite sanctions, acceded to the demands of those on field and the club was slapped with 30 month ban. Even post-ban, the Bagan president Swapan Sadhan Bose and the club's assistant general secretary Srinjoy Bose haven't been pro-active.

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