"The Indian Grand Prix will be held in 2011 and not 2010. Bernie Ecclestone and the Jaypee Group are working on the plan," he said.

Kalmadi, who had earlier stated that F1 race will be held in Greater Noida in 2010, refused to answer questions regarding the delay. "I don't know," he said.

Meanwhile, a roadshow by the ING Renault F1 Team will be held at Rajpath here on November 9 with race driver Nelson Piquet Jr expected to get behind the steering wheel.

The roadshow is being held at the invitation of 2010 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee.

Sanctioned Rs 21 crore under the Commonwealth Games 2010 Preparation Scheme, the AITA, like all federations, had to get an undertaking signed by the tennis players selected. The AITA had sent a letter and agreement to most of the 40 elite probables selected in August. After many complaints by the players, the AITA has reworked the agreement.

According to AITA sources, the new clauses concerning `obligations of the players' have no uncomfortable, controversial points. More importantly, the Commonwealth Games Preparatory Committee headed by Jaidip Mukerjea has suggested increasing the 75 days of foreign exposure to a `minimum of 180 days' in the case of seven players: Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Sania Mirza, Sunitha Rao, Prakash Amritraj, Rohan Bopanna and Somdev Devvarman.

A response from the ministry is expected in the next 15-20 days.

Out of the 40 probables selected for CWG 2010, these seven players weren't sent any letter or communique regarding the Commonwealth Games, whereas all other players have already signed an agreement with the AITA. It was reported that certain players, persona non-grata with AITA, hadn't been sent a contract on purpose.

"It's a good sign that Punjab has become hub of shooting in India. IOC will also help upgrade the existing shooting ranges in the state," Kalmadi said on the sidelines of his visit to the shooting range in Mohali.

Accompanied by KS Sidhu, general secretary, Punjab Olympic Association, Kalmadi said IOA is concentrating on the upcoming Commonwealth Youth Games, which are being held in Pune in October, in which 71 countries would be participating.

Sidhu said the Mohali shooting range had produced four Olympic shooters -- Abhinav Bindra, Manavjit Sandhu, Mansher Singh and Avneet Sidhu.

The change was made due to the delay in renovation work being carried out at the Siri Fort Sports Complex in New Delhi, which is also the venue for the Commonwealth Games in 2010.

"Hyderabad has excellent badminton facilities and will be a good place to hold the world championships," Indian badminton chief V.K. Verma said.

"The world body approved the change after we told them the New Delhi stadium may not be ready in time."

The coaches are Dough MacCurdy from the US, national coach Vishal Uppal, Arun Kumar, Kawaljit Singh, Nar Singh, Sukhbir Singh, Shalini Thakur.

The Committee has also directed the AITA to submit without delay the names of supporting personnel such as sports analyst, doctor, physical trainer, masseur and masseuse as per the scheme for its approval.

It Sports Ministry has asked AITA to develop a comprehensive website, providing details of the players, coaches, sports equipment and facilities available in the country, within two months, a Sport Ministry release said.

As per the Scheme, the AITA has also been asked to prepare the Annual Calendar of Training and Competitions (ACTC) in consultation with SAI for imparting training of 305 days in a year for the period from August 2008 to March 31 next year.

The event, which covers a distance of over 21-km, offers $ 210,000 in total prize money $ 25,000 each to the winner in the men's and women's category.

Registration for the world's richest half marathon started today and more than 30,000 are expected to take part in the event, organisers said.

"In the past three years the Delhi Half Marathon has been the perfect build-up to the 2010 Commonwealth Games. The IOA is proud of this event and wishes it all the very best in the years to come," Kalmadi, who unveiled the logo, said.

Around 28,500 people from all walks of life participated in the last edition.

"The whole city converging on a road to run is a celebration of the human spirit overcoming barriers. The Delhi Half Marathon will celebrate the philosophy with people of Delhi," said Monoj Kholi, Joint Managing Director of Bharti Airtel.

Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president Suresh Kalmadi announced last September that Formula One Management had approved two sites on the outskirts of New Delhi with the IOA to make the final choice.

Mallya, who bought the Spyker team last year and renamed it, has said he wants Force India to be in a position to claim their first podium finish by 2010 when they can expect to be racing in front of a home crowd.

The Hindustan Times reported in November that JP Associates had signed a 10-year contract to develop a site at Greater Noida, 50km to the east of the capital.

"I shall be calling a meeting in Delhi shortly to chart out a blue print for streamlining the future of Indian hockey," Kalmadi said in a letter to the state associations.

In a show of defiance, Gill has called an AGM here on September 17. The agenda includes adoption of accounts of three financial years, appointment of an auditor, nomination of representatives to the IOA and pending legal cases and IOA's action against the IHF following the bribery scam involving its secretary general K Jothikumaran.

Kalmadi also said a four-nation double leg hockey tournament involving hosts India, Germany, the Netherlands and Pakistan will be held in Chandigarh and Jalandhar in February next year.

The tournament was organised at the request of the Punjab Hockey Association and Government of Punjab.

It was agreed upon in a meeting of Indian Olympic Association General Secretary Randhir Singh with Secretary Generals of the German Hockey Federation and the Dutch Hockey Board in the presence of International Hockey Federation (FIH) President Els van Breda Vriesman.

Meanwhile, IOA President and chairman of the ad-hoc committee to run hockey in India, Suresh Kalmadi has decided to meet the state associations "to chart out a blue print for streamlining the future of Indian Hockey.

"I shall be calling a meeting in Delhi shortly," he said in a letter to the state associations.

Sushil's campaign seemed nearly over when he lost his first round battle against eventual silver medallist Andriy Stadnik but repechage provided him a ray of hope and the Indian proved simply irresistible as he beat three grapplers on the trot to win the bronze.

TOUGH GUY: Sushil Kumar celebrates his bronze medal in the 66kg men's freestyle wrestling.

Sushil thus became the second Indian wrestler after K D Jadhav who won a bronze in the 1952 Helsinki Games to win an Olympic medal.

Incidentally, in the 2006 Doha Asian Games also, Sushil had beaten Leonid to win the bronze.

Against Leonid, Sushil grabbed early initiative by scoring two technical points that proved decisive in the end.

Though the Kazakh grappler scored one in the second period and managed to thwart Sushil, the Indian proved his superiority again in the third period and eventually prevailed 3-2 to trigger frenzied celebration among the Indians present at the Chinese Agricultural University in Beijing.

And about the Olympic medal, he said 2012 London Games will see India getting medals. '''We should wait for the 2012 Olympics for the medals,'' he told Indian mediapersons here.

The IOA chief was at pain to explain the reason for Indian sportspersons failure to perform well at events like Olympiad saying, ''We had to struggle for money, the shooters did not get better ammunition and how you expect them to get medals.'' He, however, admitted that Shooters have been getting lot of international exposure in recent years.

''It will take some time before we become sports power house,'' he added.

The reason for his optimism for the Golden era after 2010 was that Union Government has sanctioned Rs 700 crore budget for training of the sportspersons.

''It is a great news, now the sportspersons will have 310 days training, including 100 days abroad. We can have foreign coaches and every thing will be available to the players,'' he said.

''Just wait for 2010,'' he pleaded the journalists and then talked about the Delhi Commonwealth Games, which he promised will have much better opening ceremony than what ''we saw here'' yesterday.

About large number of officials coming here, Kalmadi said, ''Their number is less than the mediapersons from India and added that people like Shovna Narayan are here to study the games.'' About dressing fiasco in the Indian March past contingent in the opening ceremony, Kalmadi said all the men were dressed in Shervanis and women were allowed to wear different coloured saris, however, Sania Mirza and Suneetha Rao came into the march past contingent wearing jeans.

''The tennis players came straight from court after practising and there was no time for them to change, the chef-de-mission Baljit Singh Sethi had a choice either not to allow them or let them march past in the jeans, he decided later,'' he said adding ''I don't think it is such a big issue.

The Chinese opened their arms, with all their hearts, combining light, colour, music and dance, with modern technology, to provide a spectacular opening, befitting the country's 5000 years of civilisation, to welcome athletes from 204 countries, for the 29th Olympic Games.

Members of the Indian contingent follow flag-bearer Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore during the opening ceremony of the Beijing Games on Friday

It was 8 p.m. when fireworks lit up the sky, in a change from tradition to signal the start of the opening ceremony. In fact, fireworks enlivened the proceedings at every opportunity, rather than at the end alone, to mark the beginning of the celebration.

It was an entertainment meant for an estimated four billion television viewers around the world, and the Chinese rose to the occasion in superb fashion, to reassure the world that they were ready to host the `Ultimate Games'.

The manner in which the `lighted' acrobats, suspended mid-air, lifted the Olympic ring, set the tone for a vibrant evening that had already entertained the 91,000 capacity audience to a grand Chinese cultural show during the prelude.

The artistic director of the Opening Ceremony, Zhang Yimou, orchestrated 14,000 performers to light up an unforgettable evening.

Every event lit up the show as every performer was invariably colourfully `lighted', to paint unforgettable pictures on the mosaic.

Gutsy performance

The two-day Championship, which is being held under the aegis of Maharashtra Amateur Athletics Association (MAAA) and Arjun Prabhodini of Mumbai, assumes importance as it provides an opportunity for the athletes to earn their berth in the ensuing 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games, scheduled to be held at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports complex here from October 12 to 18.

Speaking to reporters today, MAAA Secretary General Pralhad Sawant said the inter-zonal athletics championship, to be held at Jamshedpur between August 20 to 22, will be the last chance for the athletes to cement their places in the Indian squad.

"Our senior team was the runners up in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup and the juniors have won the Asia Cup just a few days back. We have to now sit up and make the roadmap for hockey," he said.

"Things are otherwise also moving well in Indian sports but don't expect too many medals in China," said Kalmadi at the book release of 'Olympics: The India Story' by Boria Majumdar and Nalin Mehta.

A decision to this effect was taken and players can now contribute through a bank account especially created for the purpose, a press release issued by the Maharashtra Olympic Association on Saturday said.

MP Suresh Kalmadi, also chairman of the CYG organising committee, had been receiving requests from former Olympians, Arjuna awardees, Shiv Chhatrapati, Dhanchand and Padmashree recipients to include their contribution in installing the statue. These players and various sports associations in the state had conducted a meeting in this regard and submitted their request to Kalmadi and so a committee, under the chairmanship of the MP was formed.

A special account for collection of this contribution has been opened with the Bank of Maharashtra and willing players can deposit their contribution in Shri Shiv Chhatrapati Statue Committee, Sports city, Pune, account no 60008771966 at any BOM branch across the country.

Sporting greats from the state, including Harishchandra Birajdar, Padmashree Gopalrao Phadke, shooter Anjali Vedpathak, former Olympian Kamlesh Mehta, Dhyanchand awardee Smita shirole-Yadav, Shiv Chhatrapati awardee Manisha Ghate, Gurbans Kaur, Nita Talavlikar among others will be contributing for the cause, added the communiqué.

The stadium was constructed in 1994 and named after Shivaji, however, the stadium never had any indicative structure after his name. In view of the same, it was decided to install a statue of Shivaji at the backdrop of the Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) to be conducted at the stadium in October.