Bindra, who was first elected during the 2010 World Shooting Championships in Munich, was re-elected during the just concluded Worlds in Granada, Spain.

Out of the 13 athletes nominated by the respective member federations, Bindra emerged as one of the top candidates for the four vacant slots. The others to be elected were Serbian Zorana Arunovic, Marco De Nicolo from Italy and German Henri Junghaenel.

“It’s a great moment for all of us to see that shooters from all over the world have faith in Abhinav and his professionalism,” National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) president Raninder Singh said in a statement Wednesday.

“We at NRAI are confident of providing all possible support to Abhinav and all other shooters from the country for their growth and development.”

The remaining three committee members, with its chairman, will be appointed by the ISSF Executive Committee Nov 29 in Munich.

Rita Subowo, president of the Indonesian Olympic Committee, made a presentation at the OCA general assembly Saturday morning before their bid won the nod, reports Xinhua.

“Indonesia is ready to host the next Asian Games in 2018,” Subowo told the OCA general assembly.

“It’s our dreams to host again the Asian Games after 56 years. Now this is the chance for our youth generations to be able to participate, not only to compete, but also to be the host and welcome you all to our country,” he added.

Subowo said much of the infrastructure needed was already in place and Jakarta’s new airport and mass transit system would be finished by the time the games are held.

“Time is so short. That is the biggest challenge,” she said. “So from now on we have to work hard and we need the support of our friends and colleagues, not only in Asia, but also from all over the world.”

HVI works towards the better future of underprivileged children in rural India in terms of sports and education. Former German international Andrea Thumshirn started the academy in Garh Himmat Singh, District Dausa in Rajasthan, in 2010 with the support of her German hockey friends and local ruling families.

Thereafter, she managed to spread awareness of hockey in the surrounding areas and started training 50 boys and girls who later participated in various Under-14 and U-16 tournaments.

HVI opened their own school in 2013 to provide proper education and sporting facilities to budding players. Some German hockey players are now also volunteering to train young kids.

Spreading itself, HVI adopted Bhusawal Railway Boys (Maharashtra) and two more schools in South Goa in January this year and also plans to open a wing in Rohtak.

“HI has always strived to reach out to those who in spite of having the talent cannot reach the big platform. HI has always worked towards reaching out and identifying this talent. With HVI coming on board, our endeavour towards this initiative will strengthen and we are delighted to have them as an Academy Member,” HI secretary general Narinder Batra said.

Andrea is the founding director of HVI.

HI now has 26 Permanent Members, 23 Associate Members, one Member through State Olympic Associations, eight Academy Members and one Hoc-Key Member.

Leander Paes received his Arjuna Award 25 years ago and it is 17 years since he was bestowed the nation’s highest sports award, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna. He is the oldest player to have won a Grand Slam title at 41. One can go on and on listing his would-you-believe-it achievements.

At 41, age is only a number for him and says he learnt it from one of his unending list of doubles partners, the legendary Martina Navratilova.

He might perhaps like to emulate her, winning a Grand Slam title at 50! He already has eight doubles and six mixed doubles titles. Plus the Olympic bronze from Atlanta. He is no longer after accolades, he insists, he now wants to enjoy his tennis and entertain his fans as long as his body and mind carry him.

Yet, when he turns out for India he gets emotional, more so when he leads the country to victory in Davis Cup. He came very close to pulling off another great victory against Serbia over the weekend.

His doubles victory with Rohan Bopanna inspired Somdev Devvarman to punch above his weight to take the tie into fifth rubber in which young Yuki Bhambri did not have the game or the temperament to do a Paes.

India were left with a fighting 2-3 verdict, coming so close and yet so far.

The entertainer par excellence still retains the boyish look and enthusiasm of a 12-year-old who came to Delhi for the first time with his Olympian father Vece Paes to play in the national sub-junior championships.

For all his experience of a hockey player and a practicing medical doctor in good old Calcutta, Vece looked nervous whenever we discussed Paes’s tennis future. Not that he had any doubts about his ability, but he was not sure whether he would pursue tennis since he was dabbling in other sports, too.

It was understandable as Vece played hockey at the highest level, his wife Jennifer captained India in basketball and the family lived in a football mad city for Paes to have distractions.

With a little more sniff of the Maidan he would have turned out for Mohun Bagan or East Bengal. Any other sport he wouldn’t have been playing into his 40s.

Vece did not have to wait for long for the answer, Paes decided to stick with tennis and in four years the stocky youngster was rushed into a Davis Cup tie by that shrewd reader of the game and players, Naresh Kumar.

Paes was paired with Zeeshan Ali, the present coach of Davis Cup squad, and the two won the doubles against Japan in Chandigarh. After that, there was no looking back. His remarkable achievements make him easily India’s most enduring tennis player.

Ramanthan Krishnan, Amritrajs Vijay and Anand and Ramesh Krishnan have room at the top and Leander, too, has his place there. And so has, in his company, Mahesh Bhupathi as his doubles partner.

Many top Indian sportspersons swear by the national flag and feel the need to wear their patriotism on their sleeve. Paes, too, makes no secret of it and it is that fervor that eggs him on.

Someone who has won Grand Slam titles in three different decades, Paes also has a fabulous Davis Cup record with quite a few fantastic results in singles, the best of them all being the one over Croat Goran Ivanisevic, the coach of the 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic at the National Sports Club of India courts.

After losing the first two sets to the Croatian, Paes was down 0-3 in the third set, serving 30-40. People started leaving conceding the tie straight. They would have realised what they missed after some five hours and 38 minutes when the Indian champion served out the match.

Leander puts this victory up there and that’s saying something for a guy who has quite a few wonderful winning moments to remember, particularly in the company of Ramesh to keep India in the World Group for close to a decade.

Yet, he insists he is not a talented player because he lacks in inches to be a big player and he also feels his backhand play is a chink in his armour. Whatever be his faults, he makes up with his unbelievable dedication, determination and sheer hard work.

Indian sport certainly could do with a few more Leanders.

Pool A will consist of 2014 World Cup winners and defending champions Australia, Commonwealth Games bronze medallists England, Euro nations silver medallists Belgium and Asian Games champions Pakistan. In Pool B, hosts India will face World Cup 2014 bronze medallists Argentina, World Cup 2014 runners-up the Netherlands and 2012 Olympic gold medallists Germany.

The Champions Trophy has a long and illustrious history since it was founded in 1978 by Pakistan’s Air Marshal Nur Khan, a former president of the Pakistan Hockey Federation.

Pakistan remain the only Asian team to win the competition to date and earned their place at the 2014 competition through their third place result in the 2012 tournament in Melbourne. Eyes will be on their performance, having missed out on qualifying for the World Cup earlier this year for the first time in their history.

The opening day of the tournament will feature all eight teams taking to the field on India’s first newly built Olympic standard pink and blue hockey pitch in the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. The 5,000 seater stadium also serves as the home ground for Hero Hockey India League franchise, Kalinga Lancers.

“We are excited about the tournament as we know fans in Bhubaneswar love hockey, as witnessed by the packed stands during the Hero Hockey India League earlier this year at the Kalinga Stadium,” said FIH President Leandro Negre.

Narinder Batra, Hockey India Secretary General, said this is indeed a very exciting time for hockey lovers as the best teams of the world are converging in Bhubaneswar to win the coveted trophy.

“The fan following of the sport is on an upswing in India. The country is all geared up to host the international teams and witness some unforgettable hockey moments being created in Bhubaneswar in December this year,” he said.

Pool A (with world rankings): Australia (1), Belgium (4), England (5), Pakistan (11)
Pool B: Netherlands (2), Germany (3), Argentina (7), India (9)

Fixture:
Dec 6: Australia vs. England, Belgium vs. Pakistan, Netherlands vs. Argentina, Germany vs. India
Dec 7: Belgium vs. Australia, England vs. Pakistan, Germany vs. Netherlands, Argentina vs. India
Dec 8: Rest day
Dec 9: Argentina vs. Germany, England vs. Belgium, Australia vs. Pakistan, Netherlands vs. India
Dec 10: Rest day
Dec 11: Quarterfinals
Dec 12: Rest day
Dec 13: Semi-finals and classification matches
Dec 14: Final and classification matches