Devendro gives India winning start in Baku

Debutant L Devendro Singh (49kg) marked the beginning of his senior international career with a resounding
victory in his opening bout at the 2011 AIBA World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan.
   Devendro upstaged Asylbek Nazaraliev of Kyrgyzstan to make his place in the round of 32 and
give the Indian campaign at the championships a winning start.
   The rookie boxer was a surprise pick in the Indian team beating the likes of Asian Championship silver-medallists Amandeep Singh and Thokchom Nanao Singh in the light fly weight selection trials, that
were held at NIS Patiala last month.
   On the first day of this momentous championship, the nimble footed Manipur lad displayed why exactly, did he make the cut.
   Up against Asylbek, a bronze medal winner at the 2011 Asian Confederation Boxing Championships, the 19-year-old exhibited tremendous skill. After the opening three minutes of play the scores
were knotted at 4 all.
   But with the beginning of the second round Devendro took the game away from the Kyrgyz boxer, with the help of some exquisite combinations and a nifty footwork. In the end, he went to secure his place in the next round of the championship with a 14:8 victory. In the round of 32, he will take on Joselito Velazquez of Mexico on Ocotber 3.
   Second day of the championship will feature two seasoned Indian pugilists take to ring. First up is 2010 Commonwealth gold medallist Suranjoy Singh in the flyweight division.
   He will lock horns with Zsolt Dobradi of Hungary. Former Commonwealth games gold medallist Akhil Kumar will also open his world championship campaign in the bantam weight division; he will
take on Filip Barak in a keenly awaited contest.

Beef, brawn all set to awe Mumbai

The Financial nerve centre of the country has a two-day tryst with beef, brawn and ripping muscles, starting
September 24.
   The World's musclemen with tearing biceps and triceps and women with professional figures will come calling as Mumbai is primed to host the two-day first International Professional-level fitness
exposition titled ‘Sheru Classic’.
   The event includes Professional Body Building Championship for men and Professional Figure Championship for women.
   Jay Cutler (IFBB professional bodybuilder being current and four times Mr Olympia winner), Phil Heath (2010 Mr Olympia, 2nd place), Branch Warren (2010 Mr Olympia, third place), Kai Greene (Arnold
Classic, 2010), Dennis Wolf, Nicole Wilkins (2011 IFBB Figure International) and Erin Stern (2010 Olympia Figure Champion) will be the star athletes participating in this year's competition.
   Sheru Classic Chairman Sheru Aangrish said, "I want to personally thank the biggies of the body building arena around the globe who are taking pains to come down to India for my event; Especially, Jay
Cutler who has, along with other major athletes, already tweeted about his arrival here."
   "The Sheru Classic will be one of the 18 big professional body building events in the world, which are recognised by International Federation of Body Builders (IFBB) and the winners of the men's and
the women's events will get a direct entry into the Mr Olympia and Ms Olympia events that happen in Las Vegas.
   "There is a substantial buzz about the event in US and Europe and many companies have already started approaching me for sponsorships for Sheru Classic. I am proud that being an Indian, my initiative to
place India on the World Map of Fitness, is taking the desired shape. I look for all the support I can get!," said Aangrish, who has been involved in body building for more than 14 years and has won Mr India and British Championship titles.
   The expo and the pre-judging rounds of the Sheru Classic will take place on September 24 at Taj Land's End and the finale will be at Mehboob Studio.

...When Ambrose wanted to beat daylights out of Steve Waugh

Giving an insight into the deep recesses of his heart when he aggressively accosted Steve Waugh during a Test rubber between the West Indies and Australia 16 years ago, former spearhead Curtly Ambrose said he wanted to bash up the ex-Aussie skipper to pulp.
   Going down memory lane, Ambrose recalled Waugh said something to him that he took affront to, and at first, he thought he should ignore it, but in the heat of the moment, he decided to give back as good as he had received.
   "I am not one of those guys who really got into any confrontations with cricketers. My stare does a lot for me, I always believed that I prefer to let the ball do all the talking for me. The incident with Steve Waugh... I always respected him highly and it was the heat of the moment really," said Ambrose.
   "There was very fierce competition between Australia and the West Indies. We were down 0-1 in the series, there was a bit of pressure and we were on the brink of losing our number one tag. He just said
something to me that I didn't like. I thought he should have shown me a little more respect.
   "My impression was to let it go but then thinking about it I said no. I decided to retaliate a bit. In that heat of the moment I really wanted to physically beat him. But the fine thing is it happened on the day, for a brief moment, and ended there. Nothing else was said after that," he added.
   In the 1995 series, after scoring 65 not out in the drawn second Test at Antigua, Waugh sent the Caribbean pacemen scurrying on a green pitch at Trinidad suited to their hostile bowling during the Third Test.
   In the first innings, he scored an unbeaten 63 of Australia's 128 and had a mid-pitch confrontation with Ambrose.
   After Waugh had evaded a bouncer from Ambrose, the pair exchanged glares. The former Australian skipper swore and told the legendary  pacer to return to his bowling mark.
   Ambrose had to be physically dragged away by his captain Richie Richardson.