Pele reveals reason for missing '74RIO DE JANEIRO: Soccer great Pele has revealed for the first time that he refused to play in the 1974 World Cup in Germany to protest torture by Brazil's military regime.In a TV interview, Pele, 58, said he resisted pressure and threats from Brazil's ruling generals to play. ``I had left the National team in '71, and in '74 I was in good shape. But that story about torture made me desist,'' Pele said on Sunday on the Bandeirantes TV network. ``The military tried to force me,'' he added. ``I was pressured with tax questions, but I decided to stick to my position.''Martina nominatedNEWPORT: Martina Navratilova heads the nominees to be voted on for election to the international tennis Hall of Fame next year.The Hall's enshrinee nominating committee selected Navratilova, Malcolm Anderson, Nancye Wynn Bolton and Mervyn Rose to be included on the ballot in the player category. Robert Kelleher and the late Derek Hardwick were nominated for theircontributions to tennis.Athletes fired at?JOHANNESBURG: Gunfire rang out near a bus carrying All Africa Games (AAG) athletes back to the village to the north of Johannesburg here.Police spokesman Mark Reynolds said about eight shots were heard at about 5.50 pm local time on Tuesday as the highway patrol was escorting a bus carrying athletes and officials.Aravinda praisedNEW DELHI: Sri Lanka had erred in dropping Aravinda de Silva from the One-day squad in the tri-nation Aiwa Cup, and he will become one of the key factors in the team's performance in the Sharjah Cup next month, Roy Dias said.The veteran has proved his mettle in the first Test match against Australia which the home team won by six wickets, Dias said. Chetan for EuropeVIJAYAWADA: Air-India's Chetan Anand and Andhra Pradesh's G Jwala will represent India in three tournaments in Europe, according to Badminton Association of India joint secretary Punnaiah Choudary on Wednesday. A 15-day coaching camp(October 10-25) will be held at Sports Authority of India's Southern centre at Bangalore.Team (Men): Madhur Kalia (Delhi), Abhishek Bakshi (Air-India), Arup Baidya (Railways). Reserves: Thomas Kurien (Kerala), A Prithivi (AP).Women: Parul Priyadharshini (Railways). Reserves: Ketki Thakar (A-I), Trupti Murgvude (A-I). Coach: Sanjay Sharma.Itinerary: Hungarian International, Budapest (Oct 28-31), Norwegian International, Moss (Nov 4-7), Toulouse Open, Toulouse, (Nov 12-14).BAI meetingVIJAYAWADA: The rules revision committee, formed by Badminton Association of India, with SS Mani as convener, will meet on November 18 at NSCI, Mumbai, to discuss the revision of rules in conducting various tournaments in India. The other members are: LC Gupta (Hon secretary), Punnaiah Choudary (joint secretary, South), SV Nattu (joint secretary, West), Girish Nattu.Azhar shinesHYDERABAD: Deposed Indian skipper Mohammad Azharuddin, who has been at the receivingend of late, struck form at last, missing the three-figure mark by just four runs. But his effort proved futile as India Pistons notched up a comfortable six-wicket win to seal Hyderabad XI's fate, thus making it to the last four of Coromandel King Moin-ud-Dowlah cricket tournament at the ECIL ground on Wednesday.Brief scores: Hyderabad 253 in 49.1 overs (Mohd Azharuddin 96 11x4, 1x6; Ritender Singh Sodhi 2-48) lost to Indian Pistons 254-4 in 41 overs (Sathyajit Medappa 92 12x4, R Sodhi 86 n.o. 8x4).Chemplast 260-9 in 50 overs (Madan Gopal 112, Muthu Pandi 32; Fatima Reddy 3-55, Kanwaljit Singh 3-43) bt Hyderabad President's XI 153-6 in 50 overs (Santosh Yadav 52 n.o, Raghuram 37).
