Defense Contests Charges Against Smith

A judge is currently taking into consideration whether former Harvard student Brittany J. Smith can legally be tried for her involvement in the May 2009 Kirkland shooting, despite the non-prosecution agreement she signed in July 2009.

Smith was indicted on six counts—including accessory after the fact of murder, illegal possession of a firearm, and willfully deceptive a grand jury in March 2010. Prosecutors claimed that she had lied to investigators, thereby violating the terms of the non-prosecution agreement they had made with her in replace for her cooperation against the three other defendants in the case.

However, Smith’s attorney has argued that the state does not have grounds to revoke its agreement, and Smith should not be allowed to stand trial. With Smith’s trial date set to begin in less than a month, the question of whether she can be prosecuted in this case has still not been settled by a judge.

ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 news

Saina Nehwal is world No.3

Riding on her Swiss Open victory, ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal has regain the number three place in the latest world ranking. Saina, who missed a couple of tournaments early in the year because of a nagging ligament injury and then suffered early exits from the Korean Open and the All England Championships, serrated up her first title of the season in Switzerland last week.

The 21-year-old now has 69721.2637 points in her kitty and is currently behind Shixian Wang (83506.4) and Yihan Wang (73988.9106) at one and two respectively. The Swiss Open title was her third Grand Prix Gold title win after Chinese Taipei (2008) and the Indian Open (2010). The girl from Hyderabad also won four Super Series finals in Indonesia (twice), Singapore and Hong Kong over the last two years. In men's singles, Commonwealth Games bronze medallist P Kashyap was at the 21st place with 38415.2559 points, while Ajay Jayaram moved to 28th.

Anand Pawar and Arvind Bhat are at 42nd and 45th spot respectively. Commonwealth Games gold medal-winning women's doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa drop one place to 19th spot, while Jwala and V Diju slipped two spots to 18th in mixed doubles. In men's doubles, Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas jumped seven places to be positioned just outside the top 20 bracket at 21st place.

Hadfield stands in for Bellamy in quarter-final

TORQUAY United's Barbara Bellamy, who slipped under my radar to play her part in the final match of the England ladies' all-conquering run to the Home International title, misses her club's TLH National Top Club quarter-final on Friday afternoon (1pm).An England regular for six years, Bellamy came off the bench for that final day win over Scotland after the national selectors had earlier dropped skip Sian Gordon's number two, Helen Tuohy.

England had a thrashing good win over the Auld Enemy 160-75 and the TLH Top Club Finals in Torquay (Friday to Sunday) will give England indoor semi-finalist Bellamy the opportunity to catch up again with England team-mates and Common wealth Games medal winners Ellen Faulkner (City of Ely) and Sian Gordon (Swale).Bellamy's unavailability for the match on Friday afternoon has forced the selectors at Plainmoor to bring in Carrie Hadfield, and they have put her at lead in the mixed fours under skip Sam Tolchard.

Torquay's opening match is a mouth-watering replay of their 2010 national final with reigning champions Swale. The local favourites will be out for revenge with the ladies' singles berth this time going to former British Isles fours champion and TLH employee Terri Kennard. Kennard faces Amy Banes while Swale's former Torquay star Gordon she beat Bellamy in the singles twelve months ago will contest the fours and play opposite young Ryan Whitlock.

UNE softball kicks off TCCC play this week

Spring has returned, and with it the start of the University of New England softball season.The Nor’easters, who have played in Florida for their first 10 games of the season, kick off their TCCC schedule on Wednesday at home in a double-header against Western New England College. Expectations are high with the 2011 Nor’easters (5-5), who were rank third in The Common wealth Coast Conference (TCCC) pre-season poll, and return with a mix of youth and experience.

UNE had a successful season for first-year head coach Dan Letellier last year by finishing 25-14, good enough for second place in TCCC take part before being knocked out in the play-in round of the playoffs. The Nor’easters won 10 of their first 13 games of the season, showing their depth by winning despite key injuries to players such as senior first baseman Angie Damon, who led UNE with a .356 batting average on the year.

“I’ve been preaching to them all year, we’re a 19-man roster,” Letellier said last season. “It was just a matter of getting some people a few rest, getting people at-bats, because you never know when you’ll need them.”Letellier returns for his second season, and will have a new assistant coach in Courtney Wallace. She is aa Bonny Eagle High School graduate who recently completed her softball career at Pine Manor College in Chestnut Hill, Mass. Wallace completed her career as the all-time hits leader for the Gators and was a four-time selection on the Great North Atlantic Conference (GNAC) team as a catcher.

Whitten's winning ways bringing in big bucks

Which comes first, the elite Olympic athlete or the comprehensive, well-funded program that produces the elite athlete? For the Canadian Cycling Association, the answer is: Tara Whitten. It’s also Zach Bell. Canada heads into this week's UCI World Track Cycling Championships in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, led by the present male and female World Cup champions in the Omnium, a two day event comprise six track racing disciplines. For the 30-year-old Whitten, 2010 was a breakout year. The Edmonton resident won gold medals in the Omnium and the point’s race at the World Track Cycling Championships in Denmark in March, for starters.

Then she collected four medals, including gold in the women's road time trial, at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India, in October. Bell, a world championship silver medallist in 2009, won a Common wealth bronze in the Scratch race. This season, Whitten and Bell, 28, both completed on the stage in the three World Cup competition they entered, with a gold medal by Whitten in her gruelling specialty at the Beijing event. Which was noteworthy, if only as a point of contrast with the state of Canada's track cycling transportation at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, where Canada won no cycling medals.

So strapped was Team Canada at those Olympics, that when Martin Gilbert's bike was damaged, he had to borrow one from the Danish team to compete with Bell in the Madison event. At the Athens Games in 2004, Edmonton's Lori-Ann Muenzer won a gold medal in the women's sprint with wheels rented from the Australian and French teams. But, when you win, Canadian funding flows, particularly when you win medals at the Olympic Games. One year out from the 2012 Summer Games in London, Canada is, pardon the expression, right on track, led by Whitten and Bell, a converted wrestler from Watson Lake, Yukon.

Canary Wharf Squash contenders ready for battle

Top class squash returns to the East Wintergarden next week when some of the best players in the world battle it out to win the ISS Canary Wharf Squash Classic. This year's tournament promises to be one of the best, with World Champion Nick Matthew hot favourite to retain the title he won in style last year. He faces hard contest, not least from fellow-Yorkshireman James Willstrop, a three-time Wharf winner, as well as former world number one Gregory Gaultier of France.

Tournament co-organizer, and former World Champion, Peter Nicol is excited about the quality of the players on show, particularly the currently domineering Matthew - who also won the Common wealth Games title last year, and is ranked number one in the world. Nicol said: "He's a very impressive young man. Nick's got the physical attributes. He's tall, strong, and he's learned how to play squash better and better. He's a extraordinary guy and a amazing squash player.

"Unless he goes victorious all year, he can't top this year. He'll be looking to do what he's done every year and improve and learn as he goes forward and stay on top."It won't be easy for Matthew, with abundance of other top players out to steal the crown he won for the first time last year. One of those is three-time Wharf winner James Willstrop,"James is hugely talented," said Nicol."On his day he can beat anyone, although he really struggles against Nick Matthew. He'll be looking to get through to play Nick, but there are a few obstacles on the way.

"The guy who's coming back from injury and was world number one for a short time is Greg Gaultier. You can't write him off, and after a long break he's getting back into it. He'll be physically good, spiritually fresh, and he's always difficult to beat. Then there's Peter Barker, who has improved a lot and made a few semi-finals in major events. It's his home venue, although he hasn't always done mainly well here. He made the semis last year, and has a lot of capacity. If he believes in himself he can take the next step to get into finals and then win them.

Old guards miss place for Games

The national amateur boxing side coach Pimentel Hurtado has named 19 new faces in his 20-man provisional squad for the All-Africa Games planned for Maputo, Mozambique in September. The Cuban coach, now in his second year in charge of the team, has retained only one boxer from the team that competed in the 2010 Common wealth Games in New Delhi, India. For the first time in more than 40 years, Tanzania’s envoys to the Commonwealth Games failed to win a single medal.

It was the country’s most unsatisfactory outing in the Games since boxer Titus Simba won the country's first silver in 1970. Unveiling the team yesterday, Hurtado named Suleiman Kidunda as the only pugilist old guard in his squad. Kidunda is said to have attracted a panel of coaches named by the Boxing Federation of Tanzania (BFT) to assess the pugilists after some impressive performance during the National Championship in Dar es Salaam newly.

Hurtado said indiscipline was a major factor behind the failure of most boxers who represented the country in the 2010 Games to earn a recall to the team."It’s nearly one and a half years since I was unveiled as the national boxing team coach. I have been with the team since September 2009. “A few days before heading to India for the Common wealth Games, I noted that some of my boxers were unmanageable. Thus the BFT I and agreed on picking only the boxers who are disciplined for the All Africa Games and other international competitions,” he disclosed.

Daniel Repacholi named Cessnock City Sportpserson of the Year

Delhi Common wealth Games bronze medal winner Daniel Repacholi was named Cessnock City Sportsperson of the Year 2010 at the gala presentation night held at Cessnock Supporters Club last Friday night. Daniel, who won his medal for pistol shooting, had received two monthly nominations that led to his win from a hot field of seven senior finalists. Daniel was in Melbourne on Monday morning when The Advertiser contacted him to pass on the good news. He said he was thrilled to take out the award, adding that it was a great honour.

Daniel was in training for the Sydney World Cup shoot that will start this weekend. The event is a qualifier for the 2012 London Olympics. The 28-year-old fitter by trade will be up against some of the best shooters in the world. Cessnock Archery Club member Matthew McDougall was named the junior spot winner after one more planetary year of performances, winning the 3D Archery Association National Championships along with the State title. He had been named shooter of the year for the fifth year in succession.

The all-conquering East Cessnock Bowling Club No.1 Pennant team was a popular winner of the teams section after its second win in three years in the prestigious State event.Cessnock’s Sam Clough was named administrator of the year. He had been named as one of three national lawn bowls selectors. He had been a NSW Chairman of selectors. He had a high profile in deciding on Australia’s team to contest the Common wealth Games in Delhi.

Special recognition awards were made to Kurri Speedway for its efforts in bringing the sport back to the area, Cessnock Netball Association that celebrated 40 years in the city and Weston Bears, one of the highest performing clubs in northern Soccer. A big crowd of 125 nominees, their family and friends attended the function where guest speaker was Australian trampoline champion Ty Swadling.

Court grants bail to a firm's official

The Delhi High Court Tuesday granted bail to Binu Nanu, an official of a private firm who was held in legal custody for his taking part in the Rs.600-crore overlays agreement for the Common wealth Games last year. Justice Ajit Bharihoke allowed the bail application of Nanu on a personal bond of Rs.50,000 along with two sureties of like amount. He was arrested Jan 18.'Binu Nanu is granted bail as he has finished 57 days in judicial custody,' the judge said. The court asked Nanu to submit his passport to the trial court and to join the investigation whenever the Central Bureau of Investigation called him. It also told him not to try and tamper with evidence.

The court said he was released on bail because CBI officials submitted that they were not filing a charge sheet against him within the stipulated 60 days from the date of his arrest. The CBI officials said they did not require Nanu's custody anymore because they had already investigated into the matter and questioned his employees, said Justice Bharihoke.Nanu, the director of event management company GL Events-Meroform, said in the bail plea that he was remanded to judicial custody by a lower court on the finish of his four-day custodial questioning by the CBI.

The CBI Jan 12 searched the offices and residences of Nanu and many others after it registered a case in the alleged overlays scam.'Nanu's wife Roopana is also one of his links in the business,' the agency said.The case, the fourth in connection with the Games, was registered against former Games Organising Committee director general V.K. Verma. The CBI alleged that Verma and others enter into a 'criminal conspiracy' with managing directors and directors of private companies in the award of contracts for overlays for different venues of the Games at 'exorbitant rates'.

The overlays contracts are also under the scanner of the Income Tax department and the Enforcement Directorate. The overlays incorporated supply of tents, pre-fabricated units, portable toilets, containers, security fences, furniture, public display LED boards, floor finishes, material handling equipment, gensets, cabling, air-conditioners, lighting, civil construction and exercise equipment.

Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games on track

Director Gordon Arthur has responded to claims that Glasgow 2014 Common wealth Games has missed deadlines by insisting arrangements are "on track."Recent press reports suggested that milestones in the build-up to the event had not been met."We've not missed 50 milestones, we have re-phased," said Arthur."We are from the organising committee's planning point of view and the Games partners' delivery of infrastructure programme, in a very good place."

Arthur insisted the organising committee was keen to ensure that public money was being spent responsibly and at the right time."We've got huge sustain from the media right across Scotland," he told BBC Radio Scotland's Sport Nation programme."One is always going to get the irregular articles where people take a different stance."A year ago, when we put together our business plan, we set out mainly based on the guidance that we get from the knowledge transfer system that's run by the Common wealth Games Federation.

"Remember, we were only about 20 people in the organising committee a year ago. We set out a programme of work, but most of what we've been doing during the year, as well as recruiting people, is understanding better the task that we've got to do and a huge amount of that understanding and knowledge move takes you to re-phasing your work."So we haven't missed milestones, we've re-phased a lot of our work and the reason we do that is to make sure we don't recruit people any earlier than we need to, or spend money any earlier than we need to.

DDA builds giant steel sundial near elevated road

Months following the Common wealth Games 2010 got over, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is still completing Games projects. The latest is the beautification of the stretch under the Barapullah elevated road. The land agency, which had elaborate plans to build cycle tracks, urban plazas, walking trail entire with wooden street furniture along the 4.6km stretch, is starting off with a sundial. The giant sundial is being constructed in the space where the elevated Barapullah starts with a slip road on the Sarai Kale Khan ISBT side. Scheduled to be completed by next month, the sundial will be the focal point for the entry to the important road.

Said DDA spokesperson Neemo Dhar, "The work has already started. We hope that the construction will be completed by mid-April." The sundial, to be made of steel, has been planned by experts from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi. Added Dhar, "Since the sundial is a giant structure, we needed to bring in experts from outside who would build an instrument similar to that at Jantar Mantar." The steel dial, measuring 40 feet or 12 metres, is to come up on many pillars that will support the structure. DDA officials claim it's the first steel sundial in the country, with others being made of brick and mortar.

The experts from IIT were specially called in to construct the foundation on which such a huge structure would come up, added officials. Interestingly, the decoration of the stretch, along with the sundial, was originally scheduled as a Games project. The land agency had even set aside Rs 25 crore as funds, and had planned to divide the scenery based on the demography of the colonies the elevated road would be going through. The sundial was to come up as a reflection of India's heritage.

Saina geared up for All England Championship

After making it to the last-four phase in 2010, Saina Nehwal aims to go all the way this year in the All England Badminton Championships. With 5 titles leading up to the first shuttle event, India's brightest badminton star desires to make history by winning the coveted title, a feat no other Indian woman has accomplished..

Prakash Padukone, hailed as the best ever Indian shuttler, has won the World Cup, the Common wealth gold and many more titles. He was even the world No. 1, but the 55-year-old is always remembered for winning the All England title. So is Saina's coach Pullela Gopichand, who is the only other Indian to achieve this amazing honour. Such is the trend for this Super Series premier, which kicks off on Tuesday that sports buffs describe it as the 'Wimbledon of badminton'.

Though she refuses to accept it, Saina has got the best possible draw with Wang Yihan being the only Chinese player in her half. The news that Yihan had injured her knee tendon would only bolster Saina's chances. The cross-border rivals are likely to meet in the quarters. If Wang opts out and with defending champion Tine Baun of Denmark pulling out due to a heel injury, Saina's first big test could come only in the final.

But the world No. 5 says getting past the first two rounds will be quite tough. Saina will open against Seung Hee Bae of Korea and is likely to face Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in the second round. "Bae is very athletic on court. She picks up everything and makes it tough for the opponents. Ying is a classic player with all kinds of strokes. On paper it may appear easy, but for me both are very strong opponents. I have to produce my best to beat them," Saina said.

Kalmadi says ready to face any probe

Former Common wealth Games Organising Committee Chairman Suresh Kalmadi, who is under fire for supposed financial mismanagement in the conduct of the 2010 Common wealth Games, asserting that he had not done anything wrong on Saturday said he is ready to face any investigation."I am ready to face every investigation. I have not done anything wrong and I am not running from anybody. The CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) went through everything in my house, but could find nothing," said Kalmadi.

A team from the Central Bureau of Investigation raided two bank lockers of Kalmadi in Pune on Tuesday as part of the agency's current investigate into the supposed financial irregularities in the 2010 games contracts. The team from Delhi searched the lockers in several Pune banks. The CBI sealed the lockers in December last year. The CBI had visited branches of the ICICI and Saraswat banks in Karvenagar in December 2010, when officials raided Kalmadi's homes and offices in Pune and Delhi.

Kalmadi, who has been in the eye of the storm ever since the conduct of the games, received a fresh blow on February 11, when the CBI arrested Shekhar Mukund Deorukhkar from Pune. Deorukhkar has been accused of hiding facts about transactions and contract papers, which were eventually recovered during the raids conducted by the CBI. Deorukhkar is the fourth person to have been arrested in connection with the CWG scams. The CBI had earlier arrested T S Darbari, Sanjay Mohindroo and M Jayachandran, all of whom are now out on bail.

See all Cricket World Cup 2011 news at Legends of Sports

Devvarman draws India level with Serbia

Asian and Common wealth Games champion Somdev Devvarman overcome Janko Tipsarevic to pull India back level at 1-1 with defending title holders Serbia on the opening day of their Davis Cup World Group first round tie. Viktor Troicki, who sealed his country's triumph against France in December's 2010 final in Belgrade, put Serbia into the lead in Friday's first singles on the clay at Novi Sad. He raced into a two set lead over Rohan Bopanna, who then clawed his way back into argument to set up a cliffhanger which the Serb finally won 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 3-6, 6-3.

"It was a tough match. I came back after 2-0 and I am disappointed I couldn't manage to win," Bopanna told reporters. Devvarman then levelled the tie with a 3-0 defeat of Tipsarevic, although the Serb player dug deep, leading 4-1 in each of the opening two sets with the Indian winning 7-5, 7-5, 7-6 (7/3)."I feel for Janko because he probably didn’t have enough time to adjust from Delray Beach, where it was a lot warmer and that much easier to serve," Devvarman said."I served well, kept fighting and always believed I could win the match," he added.

Serbia, missing their best player, world number three and Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic, will be represented by their strongest pairing of Ilija Bozoljac and Nenad Zimonjic in Saturday's doubles where they come up against Bopanna and Devvarman. India suffered a major blow to their chances after Grand Slam-winning doubles pair Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi were required to withdraw due to injuries. But Devvarman was sure his team still had a chance to defeat the Serbs."We definitely believe now we can win this tie and we will go out there to give it our best shot," he said.

See all Cricket World Cup 2011 news at Legends of Sports

England hockey star nets another bronze

Medals are always good, but Dunmow’s top hockey player is eager to modify the colour of them as she looks forward to a year with her club and the England squad. Following on from her Common wealth Games and World Cup efforts in 2010 Chloe Rogers scored yet another bronze medal – this time with her club side Leicester in the European Club Champions Trophy. Rogers had a superb three-day tournament in Abbeville, France, and completed as the championship’s top scorer with 11 strikes in five games.

But it was not enough for a much-fancied Leicester team that failed to finish in the top two which ruled them out of promotion for next season. Rogers said: “It was a good weekend and it was nice to win a team medal and also pick up an individual award for top goal scorer which doesn’t happen very often so it was pleasing to have a good contest and managed to put the ball in the net a few times.“At the same time we are slightly disappointed as we were aiming for top two positions to try and get promoted to the top division.

“It would be nice to have a dissimilar colour medal at some point, Bronze seems to be my colour with the three we won last summer with England. But I would rather have a bronze medal than no medal at all.”“Hopefully this will change with the two tournaments we have this summer with England, and Champions Trophy again where we won Bronze in 2010 and the European cup where we hope to challenge Holland and Germany who always seem to make the final.”

Wheel chance to win

Sporting glory runs through cycling champion Maddison Hammond’s veins. The son of Common wealth Games cycling gold medallist, Gary Hammond was named Whittlesea’s Senior Sports Star of the Year for 2010 after a stellar season on the track. The 18-year-old said that while the 2012 London Olympic Games was not on the cards due to injury, he was looking at events beyond that. He said he felt ready to compete international titles.

“It’s (cycling) been around me all my life,” he said, The 18-year-old aced the Australian Track Championships in Adelaide last March, finishing first in the sprint, 1km time trial, Keirin and team sprint. He made inroads on the international circuit after claiming the Champion of Champions title in Adelaide. He followed that show with silver and two bronze medal-winning rides at the UCI Junior Track World Championships in Italy last August. Hammond rides for the Northcote Cycling Club and plans to focus on endurance events such as the omnium and madison.

But he’ll have to get over a stress crack first.“I had a bulging disc and stress fracture in my back from functioning out in the gym,” he said.“It happened 12 months ago but I only found out what it was four months ago.”Maddison received a medallion and a $500 gift card from Sports Star sponsor Rebel Sports at last week’s award night. The event was held at Etihad Stadium with Stephen Quartermain as MC.Entertainment was provided by break-dance crew Wickid Force.