Innsbruck (Austria), Nov 21 (IANS) Asian Luge champion Shiva Keshavan, who is participating in the Luge World Cup series here this weekend, says that he aims to finish in top 30. "I am aiming to be in the top 30 and compete in the World Cup finals on Sunday

Linz (Austria), Oct 14 (IANS/RIA Novosti) World No.1 Victoria Azarenka defeated Julia Goerges of Germany in straight sets to capture the singles tennis title at the Generali Ladies tournament here Sunday.

Linz (Austria), Oct 14 (IANS/RIA Novosti) World No.1 Victoria Azarenka defeated Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania in straight sets in the semi-final and will play Julia Goerges in the final of the Generali Ladies Tennis tournament here.

Linz (Austria), Oct 11 (IANS/RIA Novosti) World No.1 Victoria Azarenka thrashed Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands in their first-round match in the Generali Ladies Linz tournament here. Rus, ranked 69 in the world, managed to take only two games from Azarenka as she was defeated 6-0, 6-2 Wednesday. The Belarusian will face Romania's World No.46 Simona Halep in the second round of the $220,000 tournament

The team selection ahead of the 1952 Games was marred by such controversy that India looked destined to return home from Finland empty handed. There was a near-riotous situation concerning the inclusion and omission of players to an extent that the critics wrote off the team, led by Kunwar Digvijay Singh 'Babu', as a bunch of no-hopers despite India having won four gold medals at consecutive Olympics. 'Babu' was at his wit's end as the team played a few matches at home and was even beaten 0-1 by a Madras XI with Susainathan scoring the lone goal that cruelly exposed the tottering defence. The forward subsequently lost his front row teeth following a collision with one of the defenders, but by then, the damage had been done. Thus, it was with some relief that the team left Indian shores to Copenhagen, Denmark, for the pre-Olympic camp and in a bid to acclimatise to the Nordic weather conditions. The move was probably the best thing that the beleaguered team could have done. To top it, in a moment of panic, centre-forward C.S.Gurung was rushed to Helsinki, but his presence hardly mattered as he did not get to play even a single match. With 13 teams in the fray, the competition was held on a knock-out basis with India, Pakistan and Great Britain receiving a bye into the second round (quarter-finals). For all the pre-Games turmoil back home, the Indian team put on a classy display by defeating Austria 4-0, Great Britain 3-1 in the semi-final and outclassing Holland 6-1 for their fifth gold medal in a row. 'Babu' was the toast of the tournament as also Bablir Singh who fired nine of the 13 goals that India scored in the competition 'Babu' was decorated with the 'best sportsman of Asia' and also the 'best hockey player in the word' titles. Indian team: Kunwar Digvijay Singh 'Babu' (captain), Ranganadhan Francis, Chinnadorai Deshamuthu, Dharam Singh, Swarup Singh, Randhir Singh Gentle, Govind Perumal, Meldric St Clair Daluz, Keshav Dutt, Leslie Walter Claudius, Jaswant Singh Rajput, Balbir Singh Sr, Grahanandan Nandy Singh, Muniswamy Rajagopal, GS Dubey, CS Gurung, Raghbir Lall Sharma, Udham Singh Kullar. Results: India beat Austria 4-0 (Raghbir Lall Sharma 1; Randhir Singh Gentle 1; Kunwar Digvijai Singh 'Babu' 1; Balbir Singh 1). Semi-final: India beat Great Britain 3-1 (Balbir Singh 3). Final: India beat Holland 6-1 (Balbir Singh 5; Kunwar Digvijai Singh 'Babu' 1) Positions: India 1; Holland 2; Great Britain 3; Pakistan 4; Germany 5; Poland 6; Austria 7; Switzerland 8; France 9; Belgium 10; Italy 11; Finland 12.

Vienna, July 10 (IANS) Growth of Austria's economic output will slow down to between 0.6 and 0.8 percent in 2012 from three percent in the previous year, a report said here. The new forecast included in the 2012 Economics Report for Austria was rather modest compared to earlier estimates which had hoped for a continuation of last year's recovery in Austria, reported Xinhua. However, Austrian Economics Minister Reinhold Mitterlehner, who gave an ecomomic and political report Monday along with three other minister including Finance Minister Maria Fekter, noted a possible drop in investment and general exports in 2012, while warning that private consumption would also shrink. "Exports in countries outside the EU (European Union) grew strongly in the first few months (of 2012), but in the EU they are stagnating," he said. "We need to take steps to reduce our dependence on Europe and focus on growth markets abroad," he said.

A massive body painting festival is taking place in Austria until Sunday. Duration:

A massive body painting festival is taking place in Austria until Sunday. Duration:

(With India back in Olympic hockey, IANS takes a look at the country's glorious past in the Games. The first of a series of articles recalling the country's performance from the 1928 Olympic Games till 2004 in Athens.) By Anand Philar The 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, when India won the gold, was the country's first step towards ascending the hockey throne. It was at the insistence of the newly-formed Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) that the sport was included in the programme after a break of eight years. When hockey made its Olympic debut in 1908 at London, the sport had barely taken root in India. Calcutta formed clubs in 1885 followed by hosting the country's first tournament, the Beighton Cup the same year, and Bombay organising the Aga Khan Cup in 1886. However, it was only on Sep 7, 1925 that the IHF had its first meeting in Gwalior where Col Bruce Turnbull was elected president and NS. Ansari, the secretary. India's Olympic debut was marred by controversy over captaincy. Jaipal Singh, who was studying in Oxford, was selected along with two other England-based Indians, Yusuf Khan and the Nawab of Pataudi (Sr), who played only in the warm-up games but not the Olympics. Jaipal was named captain much to the dismay of the Anglo-Indian players in the squad. The simmering discontent saw a disgusted Jaipal walk out of the team after it reached the quarter-finals and Eric Pinninger took over the leadership. The competition that India won convincingly saw the birth of a legend in Dhyan Chand who was the top scorer of the tournament with 14 goals, including a hat-trick in the final against the Netherlands while India did not concede a single goal in five matches. India's performance earned them rave reviews and while only three persons saw them off on their journey to London, massive crowds thronged the Bombay port to welcome the new Olympic champions. A Dutch journalist, taken in by the Indian wizardry, wrote: 'The Indian ball seems ignorant of law of gravity. One of those tanned, diabolical jugglers stares at the ball intently; it gets upright and remains suspended in the air. It only proceeds on its way when the player has bestowed an approval nod on it.' Indian team: Jaipal Singh and Broome Eric Pinninger (captain), Syed M Yusuf, Richard J Allen, Michael E Roeque, Leslie C Hammond, Rex A Norris, William John Goodsir-Cullen, Kehar Singh Gill, Maurice A Gateley, Shaukat Ali, George E Marthins, Dhyan Chand, Feroze Khan and Frederick S Seaman. Results: League - India beat Austria 6-0 (Dhyan Chand 4; Shaukat Ali 1; Maurice Gateley 1). India beat Belgium 9-0 (Feroze Khan 5; Frederic Seaman 2, George Marthins 1; Dhyan Chand 1) India beat Denmark 5-0 (Dhyan Chand 4; Frederic Seaman 1). India beat Switzerland 6-0 (Dhyan Chand 3; Maurice Gateley 2; George Marthins 1). Final: India beat Holland 3-0 (Dhyan Chand 2; George Marthins 1). Final Positions: India 1, Netherlands 2, Germany 3; Belgium 4; Spain 5; France 6; Denmark 7; Austria 8; Switzerland 9.

Toronto, July 5 (IANS) How does the world's tiniest mammalian diver survive icy waters to catch its prey? By doing an instant warm-up exercise before diving into cold water, say researchers. This behaviour is unexpected because lower body temperatures enable diving mammals to stay underwater for longer. Heating up doesn't make sense as animals use up oxygen more quickly when they are warmer, says Kevin Campbell, who led the study. 'This finding goes against prevailing dogma regarding the physiology of divers. Divers, especially small ones, have always been expected to try to maximise their underwater endurance,' says Campbell, professor of physiology at the University of Manitoba, Canada. He adds that shrews are highly proficient aquatic predators, an elevated body temperature presumably heightens foraging efficiency, according to a Manitoba statement. Compared to other diving mammals, shrews carry the least amount of oxygen under water and use it up the most quickly. Typical dives thus last only five to seven seconds. Being so small also makes them lose heat the fastest. Roman Gusztak, study co-author, said: 'The shrews are likely surviving at the limits of what is possible for a diving mammal. They must continually feed to provide for their voracious appetites but have to contend with very short dive durations and the constant threat of hypothermia.' Hypothermia is a condition in which core temperature drops below the required temperature for normal metabolism, defined as 35 degrees Celsius. These findings were presented at the Society for Experimental Biology meeting in Salzburg, Austria.