Most Practiced Sport Activities for 2012

As a great way to keep fit, have fun and stay healthy, sport has always played a big part in people’s lifestyles. There are so many sports to choose from that it is usually difficult to pick just one sport to practice. During 2012, the Olympic Games were held in London, and with more than ten thousand participants competing, was nothing short of amazing.

Martial Arts became a big favourite with kids mainly in the United States of America this year. With more and more youngsters signing up for classes, it comes as no surprise that this form of keeping fit was included in the Olympic Games. Three hundred and eighty six people entered as contestants for martial arts set, Judo.

Londoners not to tweet during events

Sports fans attending the London Olympics were told on Sunday to avoid non-urgent text messages and tweets during events because overloading of data networks was affecting television coverage.

Commentators on Saturday's men's cycling road race were unable to tell viewers how far the leaders were ahead of the chasing pack because data could not get through from the GPS satellite navigation system travelling with the cyclists.

Amitabh Bachchan to carry Olympic torch on Thursday

London: Megastar Amitabh Bachchan will carry the London Olympic torch on Thursday, a day before the opening ceremony of the Games.

The actor will be part of the relay team which will carry the torch.

A delighted Mr Bachchan tweeted that he has been invited by the London Olympic Organizing Committee. "OK !! HERE IT IS : Have been invited by London Olympic Organizing Committee to carry the torch in the relay tomorrow," "Honored to be asked to carry the Olympic Torch in London at Southwark around 10:30 AM !! A proud moment for me and country!" another of his tweets said.

London 2012: Yohan Blake warms up for Olympics with easy victory

Yohan Blake said he is "on the right path for the Olympics" after winning the 100m in 9.85 seconds at a low-key meeting in Lucerne, Switzerland.

The reigning world champion, 22, showed why he is considered the main threat to defending 100m and 200m Olympic champion Usain Bolt.

Only Bolt - at 9.76 secs - and 2004 Olympic winner Justin Gatlin - at 9.80 secs - have run faster this season.

Facts on Olympic Games: Why is it called London Olympics?

With less than eleven days to go for the most prestigious event London Olympics 2012 to begin, here are a few facts on Olympic Games, how it all started, why is it named after the cities that host them and many more.

Firstly, have you ever wondered the reason behind naming the games by the name of the city that hosts it? There is a reason for that as well.
* Interestingly Olympics is named after the cities that host the games rather than the nations, in keeping with the concept of all city states of Ancient Greece, and that is the reason for the Games being named after the cities.

Roger Federer driven on by fatherhood, age

London: Roger Federer believes becoming a father and celebrating his 30th birthday inspired him to a record-equalling seventh Wimbledon title.

Federer moved level with Pete Sampras on seven All England Club titles and celebrated a 17th Grand Slam crown with his battling 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 win over Britain's Andy Murray in his eighth Wimbledon final.

The win, secured beneath Centre Court's £80 million roof, also allowed him to return to the top of the world rankings where this week he'll stand for a 285th week, just one short of Sampras's record mark

Wimbledon 2012: Serena Williams wins fifth Wimbledon title

London: Serena Williams was crowned Wimbledon champion for the fifth time on Saturday as the American subdued a brave fightback from Polish third seed Agnieszka Radwanska to win 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 in a dramatic final.

Serena, who pockets a cheque for £1.15 milllion ($1.78 million), is the first woman over 30 to win Wimbledon since Martina Navratilova in 1990 and she needed all the experience gathered over her illustrious career to survive a remarkable revival from Radwanska.

After being completely out-classed for the first set and a half of her maiden Grand Slam final, Radwanska had Serena on the ropes before the sixth seed finally recovered her composure to reclaim the Venus Rosewater Dish in just over two hours on Centre Court.

Williams has now equalled her sister Venus's tally of five titles at the All England Club, but more significantly the 30-year-old's 14th Grand Slam crown is her first at the majors since her last Wimbledon triumph in 2010.

Inspired by the painful memory of her shock French Open first round exit against Virginie Razzano last month, Serena has spent the last month in a determined bid to reestablish her primacy. It is mission accomplished, but only just.

Maria Sharapova knocked out of Wimbledon by Sabine Lisicki

London: Maria Sharapova suffered a shock exit from Wimbledon on Monday as Germany's Sabine Lisicki avenged last year's semi-final defeat with a 6-4, 6-3 fourth round victory over the world number one.

Sharapova had romped to a straight sets win over Lisicki in last year's semi-final at the All England Club, but the top seed was completely out-played by the 15th seed this time.

The 25-year-old has been a finalist in three of the last four Grand Slams and arrived at Wimbledon on a high after winning the French Open for the first time earlier this month.

But she came back down to earth with a bump on Court One as Lisicki, beaten in the first round in her four pre-Wimbledon tournaments, produced one of the best performances of her career.

We can't force India into accepting DRS: ICC

Kuala Lumpur, Jun 28: Left red-faced after the powerful BCCI opposed the Decision Review System (DRS) at the Executive Board Meeting here, the ICC on Thursday said that it will not force India to accept the controversial technology in bilateral series.

With India unrelenting in its opposition to the DRS, the ICC Board did not ratify the Chief Executive Committee's recommendation for universal application of the DRS and the new Chief Executive Dave Richardson defended the decision.

Addressing a press conference after taking over from fellow South African Haroon Lorgat, Richardson said he would not try to force India to accept the technology.

Indian business houses buy all seven Sri Lanka Premier League franchises

Colombo: Indian business enterprises showed keen interest in the inaugural edition of the Sri Lanka Premier League and bought all the seven contesting franchises on offer, even as the BCCI decided not to allow its players to participate in the Twenty20 league.

The Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) had even last year prohibited its players from participating in the league, which forced the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) to abort the opening season of the SLPL.

While Wadhawan Holdings shelled out the highest bid -- USD 5.02 million -- for Wayamba, Number One Sports Consulting offered a bid of USD 4.98 million for Kandurata.

YuvaRaj bats in nets, calls it 'big achievement'

Bangalore, Jun 27: Yuvraj Singh took a big step towards his India comeback by having a batting practice session at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) here on Tuesday. The all-rounder, who battled cancer and has not played cricket for more than six months, batted in the 'nets' facing NCA's Under-19 bowlers. The 30-year-old also bowled during the practice session.

Dhoni among world's top 50 marketable athletes

New Delhi, Jun 27: Team India captain MS Dhoni and five-time world champion boxer M.C. Mary Kom have been rated as the 16th and 38th most marketable athletes in the world respectively by a British monthly.

SportsPro has ranked athletes from the across the world on the basis of their marketing potential over the next three years and after considering factors like age, home market, charisma, crossover appeal and value for money.

Sania Mirza upset about Leander Paes pairing, blames male chauvinism

New Delhi: Indian tennis player Sania Mirza has finally broken her silence on the whole tennis row after being awarded a wild card to play at the London Olympics on Tuesday.

In a press release on Tuesday, Sania said she had not spoken on the issue until now as she wasn't assured of her participation.

Yuvraj Singh takes baby steps on road to comeback

Bangalore: It's the second week of Yuvraj Singh's rehabilitation programme at the National Cricket Academy, and is likely to involve a spot of batting in the nets, which is what has brought him to Bangalore. The net bowlers are ready, but Yuvraj isn't. Not yet. Right now, practice and training schedules are being worked out, diet plans designed and waiting media contingents being dealt with.

Around 50 mediapersons arrived at the NCA on Monday afternoon once news went out that Yuvraj would be around. Also at the NCA were Virender Sehwag, Ishant Sharma, Irfan Pathan, RP Singh and Varun Aaron, but there was no way they would serve as distractions. What if, in trying to get a moment with Sehwag, Yuvraj slipped away? So while, ordinarily, Sehwag's appearance would have sent the journalists into a tizzy, only a couple of TV cameras bothered to turn their attention to him today. The others were ignored completely.

Tennis Association hopeful Leander Paes will accept compromise formula

New Delhi: India's tennis trauma could end soon. A compromise appears tantalizingly close, with the All India Tennis Association hopeful that India's highest ranked player (No. 7), Leander Paes, will agree to play in the Olympics after he was guaranteed that Sania Mirza will play the mixed doubles with him. (Read: Top 10 developments in the tennis row)

Earlier today, his father indicated that Leander would skip the Olympics, when the All India Tennis Association (AITA) said it had decided to send two teams for the men's doubles event. The association decided to pair Mahesh Bhupathi with Rohan Bopanna after all. Just a day earlier, Leander had warned that he would not play the Olympics if that happened, because it would force him to pair with a rookie. The association teamed him up with Vishnu Vardhan, ranked 207 in the doubles. "It's a question of his principles...his emotions would want him to play, his principles would say no," said Leander's father, Vece, to NDTV. (Read: Team selection decision unfair, says Vece Paes)

Crisis in Indian tennis: Top 10 developments

New Delhi:  The drama in Indian tennis may be forced to a conclusion today. The All India Tennis Association (AITA) will announce its final team for the London Olympics. Tomorrow is the deadline for submitting the names of the players in the team for the men's doubles event.

Here's your 10-point cheatsheet to this big story:

1. The controversy is over who should represent India in the men's doubles event.
2. The tennis association wanted Leander Paes to be paired with Mahesh Bhupathi. Once referred to as The Indian Express, the players have not spoken to each other since last November.

Euro 2012: Spain, Italy through, as Group C concludes

Gdansk: Defending champions Spain on Monday beat Croatia 1-0, ending Balkan dreams of a Euro 2012 knock-out berth, as Italy ran out 2-0 winners against the Republic of Ireland to qualify in second spot in Group C.

Vicente Del Bosque and Slaven Bilic's sides were goalless in Gdansk at half-time in a lacklustre affair from which Spain only needed a draw to top the group and go through.

Saina Nehwal wins Indonesia Open title in Jakarta

Jakarta, Jun 17: Defeating China's Xuerui Li, Saina Nehwal cliched a marvellous victory at the Indonesian Open Super Series Premier badminton event in Jakarta on Sunday, Jun 17. Thus India's ace shuttler won her third Indonesia Open title scoring 13-21, 22-20, 21-19 victory to defeat the Chinese shuttler.

Saina, who won the tournament in both 2009 and 2010, earlier had played with Ji Hyun Sung of South Korea to enter its final for the fourth straight year while Xuerui pipped compatriot Wang Yihan in the other semi-final.
On Saturday, the World No 5 established a comfortable lead in the first game before Ji Hyun Sung staged a stunning comeback. The latter restored parity at 17 all and even inched ahead to 20-19 but Saina did not give up and reeled off three points to win the game.
She bettered the feat by winning five points in succession when Sung was leading 16-13 in the second game. That probably demoralised the Korean who could not return Saina's forehand smash on match point.
OneIndia News

14 June 2012 Last updated at 22:02 GMT 452 Share Facebook Twitter print Euro 2012: Steven Gerrard targets win to set stage for Wayne Rooney

England captain Steven Gerrard believes victory against Sweden will present the perfect stage for Wayne Rooney to return and lift their Euro 2012 campaign to new heights.

Rooney completes a two-match ban after Friday's Kiev clash and will return for the final Group D game against Ukraine.
"Wayne adds an awful lot of quality and skill to this team," said Gerrard.

London 2012: Olympics opening ceremony details revealed

The Olympic Stadium will be transformed into the "British countryside" for the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Games on 27 July.

A cast of 10,000 volunteers will help recreate country scenes, against a backdrop featuring farmyard animals and landmarks like Glastonbury Tor.
The opening scene of the £27m ceremony will be called "Green and Pleasant", artistic director Danny Boyle revealed.
He added the show would create "a picture of ourselves as a nation."