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Narinder Kaur is seventy-something but looks older and tired. For the most, it’s been a difficult life for the widow of Bakshish Singh Sandhu, who did what a very miniscule number of Indian sportspersons managed.

He had an Olympic gold to his name as part of the 1956 men’s hockey team and an Asian Games silver two years later. But then Sandhu died in 1970 at the age of 41, leaving behind his wife and two young daughters and nothing much else.

“My husband played many tournaments but I had no idea about them. I only knew that he won gold in the 1956 Olympics,” Kaur told the Hindustan Times.

And then, clearly upset, she continued. “What I don’t understand is what this medal was all about.

For my family and me, it meant nothing more than some pride that my husband contributed something for the country. But for the Government of India, it didn’t even matter that much.

” Bakshish Singh’s family disowned his wife after he died of a heart attack and she was left with just five acres of agricultural land. The wife of the Olympic gold medallist then took on a job as an attendant in Chandigarh’s Virka Milk plant, a job she held for 20 years before having to retire in 1992.

After that, she’s been totally dependent on her daughters, who are taking care of her. Narinder, incidentally, isn’t the only one of many widows of national and international sportspersons from the hinterlands of Punjab and elsewhere to have been left without any support.

While the Indian government did begin a pension scheme for Olympic, Asian and Commonwealth Games medallists in 1994, that pension is only valid for the sportsperson’s lifetime. His widow has no claim to it when most come them from economically deprived families and have been totally dependent on their husbands for everything.

Kaur says that 1948 Olympic gold medallist, Tarlochan Bawa, did try and push her case in 1994 but nothing happened. She was refused pension by the Punjab Sports department on the same grounds, that her Olympian husband was no longer alive.

All she got in toto for her husband’s achievement was Rs 21,000 from the then Chief Minister of Punjab in 1994. So what is Kaur’s story? It is the story of those countless Indian women who give up their identity to become someone’s wife.

She married Bakshish Singh in 1953, when he was with the Punjab Police. After about 10-12 years, he resigned as an Inspector and joined the Punjab Sports Department, where he worked about three years before resigning in 1968.

So, he was not entitled to a pension in both those jobs, as he hadn’t worked long enough at either place to qualify. “As there was no regular financial support for me after my husband died, I decided to shift to Chandigarh from Amritsar and did a job in Verka Milk bar.

But there too, the pension scheme began only in 1995.” Now, for every single expense, she is completely dependent on her daughters.

“I received Rs 32,000 from my provident fund in 1992. Before that, in 1988, I sold my land for Rs 1.25 lakh.

Everything though, is finished now.” And then comes the anger.

“My daughters do take care of me, but what about the government.”.

Pakistan batsman Younis Khan, who played for Rajasthan Royals in the lucrative Indian Premier League, on Monday confirmed he has received full payment from the IPL.

“Yes the IPL has cleared all my dues including the bonus amount from the winning purse for the tournament,” said Younis, who played only one match for the eventual champions of the tournament.

Younis said that to his knowledge, his compatriot Umar Gul had also got his payments cleared by the IPL. The pacer, who hails from the North West Frontier Province appeared in a number of matches for Kolkata Knight Riders.

Younis, who joined the Royals side one month late, insisted that the team management cleared his decision under a understanding with the Royals team management.

“I was in touch with them after they had allowed me initially a week off to join them late. But later they said since everything was going well I could join them late. I joined them after getting clearance,” Younis said. The senior player said he was happy that despite his limited appearance for the Rajasthan Royals side they had upheld his contractual obligations.

Sources say all the other Pakistani players, who participated in the tournament including captain Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Hafeez, Salman Butt, Shoaib Akhtar, Misbah-ul-Haq and Kamran Akmal have also had their payments cleared from the IPL.

WITH THE financial markets in a freefall, oil prices on the rise, inflation on a high and giant international conglomerates declaring bankruptcy, it might come as a surprise that one organisation is celebrating a bumper year. In fact, the best year in its 79-year history.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will be told by N. Srinivasan, its treasurer, at the board’s annual general meeting on September 27 and 28, that the BCCI’s income for the year has crossed Rs 1,000 crore, well in excess of earlier estimates. The board’s income in 2007-08 was Rs 1000.41 crore, up a strong 46 per cent from Rs 651.83 crore in 2006-07.

The figure represents a significant improvement from the BCCI’s own forecast for the year, which was Rs 862.30 crore. The significant driver behind this rise was the increase in income from the sale of media rights, up to Rs 559.31 crore from the previous year’s Rs 313.62 crore.

But it’s not just television rights - every other source of income has seen a mammoth rise. What this means is that almost everyone under the BCCI umbrella stands to benefit.

International cricketers, who took home Rs 43 crore between them in 2006-07 now received Rs 66 crore, with an equal amount being paid out in domestic cricketers’ wages. What this meant was a player got paid Rs 37,000 for each day of Ranji cricket.

But it’s not only current cricketers who are better off. More than 860 former cricketers, umpires and widows of cricketers draw monthly pensions.

The list is long, and for the moment, there’s enough and more in the coffers to keep a whole lot of people happy.

Real Madrid midfielder Guti will miss next week’s Champions League match at Zenit St Petersburg after suffering a leg injury at the weekend.

Guti, whose full name is Jose Maria Gutierrez, will be out for two weeks following the injury in the last minutes of the league match at Santander, which Real won 2-0, the club said Monday.

Real face a tough match against the UEFA Cup holders in Russia on September 20 in Group H of the Champions League.

Grand champion Hakuho overpowered Baruto to collect his sixth victory Saturday and get a share of the four-way lead in the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament. His archrival and fellow Mongolian Asashoryu, also a grand champion, bounced back from his setback the day before to stay on the heels of the leaders. In the final bout at the Ryogoku Kokugikan arena, Hakuho managed to unlock the Estonian komusubi’s persistent grip and bulldozed him out of the straw ridge. Hakuho, seeking his eighth tournament victory after winning the Nagoya tournament, is now 6-1.

Asashoryu chased away No. 4 maegashira Tochinonada with a series of frontal thrusts.

Asashoryu, aiming for his 23rd Emperor’s Cup, rose to 5-2, while Tochinonada sank to 2-5. Ozeki Kotomitsuki defeated Goeido to leave both with 6-1 records and a share of the lead.

Kotomitsuki stopped his opponent from getting hold of his belt and forced him out, handing the No. 5 maegashira his first defeat.

Sekiwake Ama, also from Mongolia, is the other leader after throwing down lower-ranked Asasekiryu, who fell to 2-5. In other bouts, ozeki Kaio yanked down top maegashira Miyabiyama to collect his fourth victory against three losses, while No.

4 maegashira Aminishiki pushed out ozeki Chiyotaikai, leaving both at 4-3.

Miami Heat rookie Michael Beasley was fined $50,000 by the NBA on Thursday after acknowledging that he was involved in an incident involving teammate Mario Chalmers and Memphis’ Darrell Arthur at the Rookie Transition Program this month.

The NBA said Beasley, the No. 2 overall pick, originally failed to cooperate with the league investigation of the matter. The Heat said Beasley eventually chose to reveal that he was part of the incident.

Chalmers and Arthur, former Kansas teammates, were fined $20,000 apiece last week after being banished from the rookie symposium. They were found in a room at the resort where the event was taking place with two women — which violated NBA policy for the event. Security at the resort said the scent of marijuana was detected, but no drugs or drug paraphernalia were found, and Chalmers and Arthur both insisted they were not using any illegal substances.

Beasley’s involvement in the incident is not clear. He filed papers to dissolve the relationship with his agent, Joel Bell, last week, and was not available for comment Thursday.

“While we are disappointed with Michael’s involvement, we are pleased that he chose to come forward and stand with his teammate and accept the consequences of his actions,” Heat president Pat Riley said in a statement. “We are hopeful that both Michael and Mario have learned from this experience and we will have no further comment on the subject.”

None of the three players will be suspended by the league. Chalmers and Arthur will have to repeat the symposium, which teaches incoming NBA players how to handle the on- and off-court rigors of life in the league, next summer.

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban says forward Josh Howard realizes his comments about the national anthem were wrong and the player has apologized.

In his online blog, Cuban also responded to e-mails he has received commenting on the player’s remarks by saying Howard “will work with us” and “beyond that, it’s a private issue.”

Cuban posted a number of the inflammatory replies on his blog Thursday night, with the apparent e-mail addresses of the senders.

But by Friday night, Cuban’s remarks slugged “Thanks for the advice on Josh” had been removed from the blog and replaced with a posting saying “I made my point.”

Howard’s comments, in a video posted on the Web site YouTube, show him on a football field at a charity flag football game. As the national anthem plays in the background, Howard approaches a camera and says: “‘The Star-Spangled Banner‘ is going on right now. I don’t even celebrate that (expletive). I’m black.”

Some e-mails that Cuban posted made blatant racist remarks about Howard. Others suggested Howard should move to another country, be fined or fired.

Cuban’s updated response said his original posting was “the right thing to do,” but he says it left him with an upset stomach all day Friday.

“I thought it was important to point out the hatred and ignorance of so many who quickly judge people they have never met, based purely on soundbites and headlines,” Cuban wrote late Friday. “I wanted to point out the irony of them experiencing the onslaught of attention from suddenly and unexpectedly being placed in the media spotlight from a throwaway comment.”

Cuban said he knew those e-mailers would be receiving “the same level of hate, ignorance and judgment as Josh had and that’s what bothered me all day.”

Cuban ended by saying: “Hopefully something good came from it being posted.”

Cuban did not immediately respond Friday night to an e-mail from The Associated Press.

Pat Burrell hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the sixth inning and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Braves 4-3 on Thursday night to complete an unprecedented sweep of the nine-game season series in Atlanta.

The Phillies remained a half-game ahead of the Mets in the NL East with their season-best seventh straight win. New York beat Washington 7-2.

Philadelphia is the first team to sweep a season series longer than four games in Atlanta. They swept three three-game series at Turner Field by a combined score of 49-24.

The closest the team came to being swept in franchise history was almost 100 years ago. In 1909, the Boston Doves lost all 11 home games to the Chicago Cubs.

The Phillies lead the season series 13-2, their most wins against the Braves in a season with three games remaining in Philadelphia next week.

Cole Hamels (14-9) gave up six hits and two runs in six innings to improve to 3-0 in four starts against the Braves this season. The left-hander is 6-2 against Atlanta in his career.

Brad Lidge pitched a perfect ninth for his 38th save, including seven against the Braves.

The Phillies took a 2-0 lead in the first off Mike Hampton (2-3). Jayson Werth’s triple to center drove in Chase Utley, who singled. Werth scored on Ryan Howard’s fly ball to left.

Chipper Jones walked and scored on Brian McCann’s double in the first, and the Braves tied the game in the second on Casey Kotchman’s first homer since he was acquired from Texas on July 29. Mark Teixeira, sent to the Angels in the trade, has 11 homers for Los Angeles.

The 2-2 tie lasted until the sixth, when Burrell hit a two-run homer, his 32nd, about 10 rows into the left-field seats.

Hampton gave up six hits and four runs, two earned, in seven innings.

The Braves scored an unearned run off Ryan Madson in the seventh. Kelly Johnson reached on an infield single. Jones drew his second walk and Johnson scored when shortstop Jimmy Rollins dropped McCann’s fly ball in front of Burrell in left field. It was only Rollins’ seventh error.

Notes:@ Burrell has five homers against the Braves this season. … Kotchman’s homer was only his sixth extra-base hit in 114 at-bats with the Braves. … The Braves announced before the game that manager Bobby Cox’s six coaches will return in 2009. … Johnson has a 16-game hitting streak after his infield hit, which was first ruled as a fielding error on Howard.

Captain Ricky Ponting has defended Cricket Australia’s decision to go ahead with India tour despite recent bomb Blasts in New Delhi, saying the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and independent security experts have given them green signal.Terming the decision ’serious’, Ponting told ‘The Australian’, “Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade have obviously been in very close contact with CA over the last few days.

“As we all know and has been outlined already, these are very different circumstances between India and Pakistan right at the moment and the Board has made that very clear.”

He added that both as captain and player of the team he is comfortable to visit India on the advice of CA and the Australian Cricketer’s Association.

The skipper also welcomed volatile all-rounder Andrew Symonds decision to return to the game as a better person.”I actually think there were some really positive signs over the last couple of days with Andrew,” said Ponting.

“He’s fronted the media and admitted that there’s some room for improvement in certain parts of his life,” he added.