CRICKET: Indians field Test XI in ‘testing’ tie
Indian preparations for their first series victory on foreign soil in 15 years will be put to test when they take on Zimbabwe A in their tour opening three-day match here tomorrow.

BADMINTON: Gopi bug bites the Spanish fans
Spanish eyes will be on rising Indian badminton star Pullela Gopichand when the World Championships get underway here this week. Gopichand left the badminton world abuzz in March when he defeated Denmark’s then world No. 1 Peter Gade and China’s Olympic champion Ji Xinpeng in a rollercoaster ride to the coveted All-England Championships.

Schumi is ‘king’ of Monaco
World champion Michael Schumacher steered Ferrari to a flawless one-two finish on Sunday for his fifth win in Monaco as Formula One rivals McLaren endured a nightmare afternoon.

CHESS: Sasi draws game, in hunt for third spot
Playing for the third place, Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran drew the first game against International Master Andrei Volokitin of Ukraine in the Olymic Young Masters Knockout Chess Tournament here.

Aussies caught with pants down
Australia’s men’s hockey players, fresh from downing South Korea in the final at the East Asian Games, had to disrobe and lend their tracksuits to their football cousins today.

FOOTBALL: It’s truly a Real take
Real Madrid won their 28th Spanish league title in style on Saturday, two goals from Raul and another magisterial display from Luis Figo helping them to a 5-0 victory at home to Alaves. Raul set Real on their way on 21 minutes with a neat chip over keeper Martin Herrera and set up the second for Guti a minute later as Alaves looked in vain for an offside flag.

Tough start for Kuerten
Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil gets the defence of his French Open title off to a tough start with a match against up-and-coming Argentinian Guillermo Coria.

Dhanraj Pillay sets out for ‘golden’ project
Indian hockey star Dhanraj Pillay may not have found favour with the National selectors but the flamboyant striker’s latest fad is definitely going to find favour with the followers of the sport. The 32-year-old Olympian has come out with an ambitious plan — of starting a hockey development programme in Mumbai. What generates interest in Pillay’s project is his unique concept to generate the funds.