Sports India

Sixteen-year-old Saina Nehwal, seeded second, beat Guerrero Raquel of Philippines 21-2, 21-8 to move into the third round singles event of Asian Junior Badminton Championship held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, according to reports in New Delhi on Thursday.
CAB awards
Cricket Association of Bengal adjudged Deep Dasgupta as the CAB best cricketer of the year, Shib Shanker Paul as the best fast bowler of the year and Sourasish Lahiri as the gentleman cricketer of the year, for the 2005-06 season in Kolkata on Thursday. Former Bengal cricketer Shivaji Bose will be awarded CAB lifetime achievement award. The annual awards ceremony will be held on 23 July.
Vaughan out
England captain Michael Vaughan has been ruled out of the Ashes tour of Australia after a fourth operation on his right knee, the England and Wales Cricket Board confirmed in London on Thursday. The Yorkshire batsman went under the knife on Monday still clinging to the hope that he could be fit in time to lead England on the tour, which begins in November. But, according to the BBC, the surgery revealed more extensive damage to the joint than expected ~ a development which will intensify fears that Vaughan’s career could effectively be over.
Shoaib to return
Speedster Shoaib Akhtar may have to feature in local games next week to test his match fitness before making himself available for the ensuing Test cricket series against England. Shoaib, who is recuperating from stress fracture, would be asked by the Pakistan Cricket Board to play if his latest scan report on the injured ankle shows substantial progress. “We are considering the idea of having Shoaib to play some matches locally, but that would depend on what sort of advice comes from the doctors treating him,” PCB’s director of board operations Mr Abbas Zaidi was quoted as saying by The News in Karachi on Thursday.
Talent hunt
In an unique talent hunt, Australian greats like Allan Border and Steve Waugh will select 15 upcoming cricketers from India to be coached in ‘The Chappell Way’ Down Under. These young men will then be pitted against an Australian team, picked in a similar fashion in Australia, in what is to be called ‘The Outback Ashes’, a Press release said in New Delhi on Thursday.
Golf tourney
Rahul Bakshi fired a three-under 69 ~ with a total tally of 212 ~ to storm into lead in the senior Category A of the Sunfeast Northern India Junior and Sub-Junior Golf Championship being played at the Army Golf Course in New Delhi on Thursday. Overnight leader Amanjyot Singh submitted a card of one-under 71 to slip to second place at 213. Kanishk Madan shot a four-over 76 to jump to third place at 220.
Scaling heights
Noted mountaineer Karma Gyeltshen will organise an expedition to Mount Everest to commemorate the 150th anniversary of India’s first war of independence ~ the Sepoy Mutiny ~ in April next year. The 29-year-old climber from Bhutan announced this at a Press conference in Siliguri on Thursday