Wednesday, September 16, 2015

1:58 PM

Sergio Aguero allays shoulder injury worriesReuters | Jun 18, 2015, 10.53 AM IST

Sergio Aguero trained normally on Wednesday, dispelling fears he damaged his shoulder when diving to head the only goal in Argentina's 1-0 win over Uruguay at the Copa America.

The striker held his shoulder in pain after scoring his second goal of the tournament in the 55th minute of Tuesday's match at La Serena, and again when he was substituted, but it turned out to be no more than a knock.

The win put Argentina joint top of Group B with Paraguay on four points after two matches with Uruguay a point behind them.

Coach Gerardo Martino will have to sit out Saturday's final group match against bottom team Jamaica at Vina del Mar after being handed a one-match suspension.

Martino was sent to the stands by Brazilian referee Sandro Ricci for dissent during the win over Uruguay.
1:57 PM

Declared injured, Shaun Marsh loses his cool

Kings XI Punjab coach Sanjay Bangar was crystal clear in announcing the injuries of Shaun Marsh and George Bailey ahead of Friday's match against Delhi Daredevils.

"We have some injury concerns. Shaun has got hit on his toe during practice and George has hurt his shoulder," said Bangar after the practice session on Thursday.

While Bailey was seen carrying an ice pack on his shoulder after practice, Marsh looked disgusted after finishing his knock in the nets.

After an hour of batting in the nets, Marsh strode towards the tent where players keep their kit bags. He flung all three bats before banging his helmet hard on the ground. It bounced out of the tent.

Soon Glenn Maxwell, who had been dropped for the last two matches, walked out of the tent to gear up for a knock. He had already rolled his arm over for over an hour. Clearly, Marsh wasn't pleased at the prospect of having to miss another match. He had made a significant impact after having made the playing XI late in the tournament.

With their regular captain Bailey struggling to get fit and Virender Sehwag's form becoming a concern, the Kings XI are in a spot. However, Bangar pinned his hope on Maxwell to set their wavering campaign back on track.

"You have to have patience in dealing with Maxwell. But he can definitely leave an impact by the time the tournament ends. For us to go forward in the tournament, he has to play an important role," said the coach.
1:56 PM

Mortaza sustains minor injury in a road accident

Bangladesh ODI skipper Mashrafe Mortaza sustained minor injuries to both his hands after being involved in a road accident in Mirpur but there is no immediate threat to his participation in the three-match home series against India, starting June 18.

The accident took place when Mashrafe was travelling by a cycle rickshaw from his house to the Shere Bangla Stadium for the team's training session. There was a mild collision between his rickshaw and a bus.

Mashrafe has now got both hands bandaged but the Bangladesh team management is hopeful that he would recover in time for the series.

"This is unfortunate. We are concerned about his palm," Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurasingha told 'ESPNcricinfo'.

"But we will give him maximum chance to recover in time for the ODI series," he added.
1:56 PM

IndyCar driver Justin Wilson dies after head injury

English driver Justin Wilson was declared dead on Monday after suffering a severe head injury during an IndyCar race in Pennsylvania, plunging the sport into mourning and triggering calls for a review of safety measures.

Wilson, 37, had been in a coma since Sunday, when a large piece of debris from another racer's car struck his helmet on the final laps of the "Tricky Triangle" of Pocono Raceway in the penultimate race of the season.

Friends and loved ones of the Sheffield-born racer had flown to be at his bedside at Lehigh Valley Health Network Cedar Crest Hospital in Allentown earlier Monday before his death was announced.

"This is a monumentally sad day for IndyCar and the motorsports community as a whole," said Mark Miles, chief executive of the parent company which runs IndyCar and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

"Justin's elite ability to drive a race car was matched by his unwavering kindness, character and humility -- which is what made him one of the most respected members of the paddock.

"As we know, the racing industry is one big family, and our efforts moving forward will be focused on rallying around Justin's family to ensure they get the support they need during this unbelievably difficult time."

Wilson's Andretti Autosport team paid tribute to him, describing him as a "tremendous racer, a valuable member of the team."

"We are deeply saddened by the passing of Justin Wilson," Andretti Autosport said in a statement.

"While Justin was only part of the Andretti lineup for a short time, it only took a second for him to forever become part of the Andretti family.

"His life and racing career is a story of class and passion surpassed by none.

"Our thoughts and prayers remain with the Wilson family and fans worldwide."

Wilson was hit by what appeared to be a section of fellow driver Sage Karam's car after it spun out on lap 179 of the 200-lap race.

The father-of-two was airlifted to the hospital immediately after the crash, and never regained consciousness.

Wilson had driven in major US open-wheel racing since the 2004 season.

He was driving a partial schedule in 2015 for Andretti, making his 174th IndyCar start. He recorded seven wins in CART and IndyCar races, his most recent coming at Texas in 2012.
1:55 PM

Suit filed against Pacquiao for not disclosing injury

Two Nevada men filed a class-action lawsuit against Manny Pacquiao on Tuesday, seeking millions in damages because they say he fraudulently concealed a shoulder injury before his defeat to Floyd Mayweather.

It is just the latest fallout from Mayweather's victory in Las Vegas on Saturday in a unanimous decision, with Pacquiao saying afterwards that the shoulder complaint hampered his performance in the welterweight world title showdown.

The plaintiffs argue that by failing to go public with the injury before the feverishly anticipated bout, the Philippine icon and his camp violated the Nevada Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

The suit filed in a US District Court in Las Vegas names Pacquiao, his manager Michael Koncz, promotional company Top Rank and Top Rank chairman Bob Arum and president Todd duBoef.

According to court documents available online, the lawsuit claims that when plaintiffs Stephane Vanel and Kami Rahbaran -- who bought tickets, forked out pay per view fees or bet on the fight -- the defendants "knew and had full knowledge and information that defendant Pacquiao had been seriously injured and was suffering from a torn rotator cuff."

"Defendants further know that such injury would severely affect his performance," the lawsuit says.

"None of the defendants informed or apprised the public or even the Nevada Athletic Commission about the injury to defendant Pacquiao."

The clash between Pacquiao and Mayweather at the MGM Grand Garden Arena was billed as the "Fight of the Century."

It's certainly set to go down as the most lucrative bout in history, with possible revenue of $400 million.

That could include as many as three million pay-per-view purchases, at about $100 each.

The bout went the full scheduled 12 rounds, Mayweather easily winning on the judges' scorecards to take his perfect record to 48-0.

After the fight, Pacquiao and Top Rank revealed the 36-year-old had been injured in training camp some three weeks earlier.

They said he'd been cleared by doctors to fight, although they had expected him to be able to take an anti-inflammatory injection on fight night, but the Nevada State Athletic Commission ultimately denied him.

Pacquiao attorney Daniel Petrocelli told The Los Angeles Times that he expects the lawsuit to be dismissed.

"It claims Pacquiao was injured (immediately) before the bout and that's not true -- he was injured (nearly a month) before the bout, was examined by doctors and cleared to fight," Petrocelli said. "And he was examined by the commission right before he fought."
1:54 PM

Australia batsman Hughes dies from head injury

Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes died in hospital on Thursday, two days after the batsman was struck on the head by a bouncer during a domestic match.

Governing body Cricket Australia (CA) confirmed the 25-year-old had lost his fight for life.

"We are extremely sad to announce that Phillip Hughes has passed away at the age of 25," CA said on its Twitter feed.

"Our thoughts go out to Phillip's family, friends, and the entire cricket community on this incredibly sad day."

There were no further details.

Hughes had spent a second night in a Sydney hospital in an induced coma after having emergency surgery to relieve pressure on his brain.

The batsman was struck on the head by a ball at the Sydney Cricket Ground, a devastating blow experts compared to the trauma suffered by victims of a car crash.

News of Hughes death followed calls by former players for the Australian team to abandon the first Test match against India next week.

Questions about the response time of ambulances dispatched to the stadium were also raised.

The head of New South Wales Ambulance was to be hauled before the state health minister Jillian Skinner on Thursday after the ambulance authority issued conflicting statements about their response times.

The arrival of the first ambulance took 15 minutes, NSW Ambulance clarified in a statement on Wednesday.

The state's median response time for the highest priority "life-threatening cases" was just under eight minutes in 2013-14, according the authority's statistics.

"Due to the conflicting information distributed today by NSW Ambulance regarding (Tuesday's) response to the Sydney Cricket Ground, I will be meeting with NSW Ambulance Commissioner Ray Creen tomorrow to discuss the circumstances surrounding the incident," Skinner said.

Dr Peter Larkins, a leading sports physician, said: "Time is of the essence when your brain has suffered trauma."

Family and players had maintained their vigil at Hughes' bedside.
1:52 PM

5 Things you did not know about sports

Sports were part of the school curriculum, but in India they never receive due credit from teachers and parents alike.

We played sports, fell down, injured ourselves and went on to become doctors and architects. Eventually, age creeps in as well as fat, we hit the gym but that's not fun and motivating enough. Well you can always get your gang back together and shoot some hoops, a goal, or hit a six. It will help you de-stress, keep you alert, and on your feet, and also help you shed weight. In short, you will improve your overall fitness. Here is what you may have not known about sports and how they can help you.

Lose it: Whether it's quick weight loss, mental and physical agility, muscle tone, cardiovascular, or just plain and simple entertainment - sports always scores over gym and aerobic routines. Here's a quick look at how many calories you burn per sporting activity:

Badminton: 305

Basketball: 370

Cricket: 270

Football: 420

Frisbee: 120

Martial Art: 580

Squash: 660

Tennis: 440

Volleyball: 230

(A quick reminder - The heavier you are, the more calories you'll burn. So a person weighing 90kilos will burn almost twice the calories with the same activity, in the same time, as someone weighing 50 kilos.)

Avoid sport injury: The most common sports injuries are strains and sprains. Sprains are injuries to ligaments, the tough bands connecting bones in a joint. Suddenly stretching ligaments past their limits deforms or tears them. Strains are injuries to muscle fibers or tendons, which anchor muscles to bones. Strains are called "pulled muscles" because over-stretching or overusing a muscle causes tears in the muscle fibers or tendons.

You too can consult a sport medical doctor: It is a myth that sports medical doctors are only meant for professional athletes when they suffer from severe injury on or off the field and are looking for speedy recovery. Sports doctors are meant for people like us as well, since their field deals with the human body's challenges, nutrition and well-being with respect to any sporting activity, whether light or heavy.

Water versus sport drink: During exercise or sports activities a lot of sweating takes place to maintain the body's core temperature. This leads to loss of body's fluid and electrolytes and if not controlled can lead to dehydration. Also the body's carbohydrate stores are depleted during exercise.

Plain water can replenish the fluid lost during exercise but not the electrolytes and the carbohydrates. It also gives a feeling of fullness and increases urine output. Sports drinks do not hydrate better than water, but provide carbohydrates and electrolytes which are lost during the exercise session. They can be consumed in larger quantities as compared to water because of their sweet taste.

It is advisable to take sports drinks (natural or packaged) immediately before, during and after the exercise session or the sports events, if you are involved in high intensity training. But otherwise water is a better source of hydration taken on a regular basis for the average gym-goer.

For Women only: Bra basics. The importance of wearing a well fitting sports bra is quite under-rated. While exercising you might just think that exercising right should be high on your agenda, without giving much thought to the kind of clothes you might be wearing. However, wearing the right sports bra is quite important for women, because a good sports bra offers optimum support while adding to physical ease and comfort - two ingredients that no workout can ever be fun without.
1:52 PM

Sports injury treatment getting a leg up in Nagpur

Though sports medicine has grown in city in last few years with orthopaedicians and physiotherapists specializing in the field, lack of awareness among players, coaches and parents still keeps the sportspersons away from these doctors.
Orthopaedic surgeons have now specialized in treating injuries like tennis elbow, knee/ankle ligament tear, repeated dislocations of shoulder, rotator cuff repair. Some centres even have the state-of-the-art equipment like the high density video endoscope system of arthroscopy but despite the dedicated facility most players prefer to go to metros for treatment.
Dr Satish Sonar who has developed a dedicated unit, Sports Med Joint Care Centre, in last one-and-half years after obtaining specialized training from Italy and Australia, Dr Sanjay Marwah who runs Institute in Sports Medicine, other orthopaedic surgeons like Dr Satyjit Jagtap, associate professor at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Dr Mukund Thakur, general surgeon are some doctors who have expertise in treating sports injuries. But unfortunately the dedicated centres too don't attract the sportspersons due to varied reasons.
Dr Sonar has installed radiofrequency machine, high density video endoscope for arthroscopy and also has a platelet rich plasma (PRP) treatment modality. "Majority of my patients however are general ones and not sportspersons as there is lack of awareness among them about the facilities available in my centre or elsewhere," he said.
Robin Simon, lecturer of physical education at the Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT) holds the coaches as well as players equally responsible for the situation. "City players and coaches still do not have the required professionalism. The coaches want to handle every aspect from the diet to the anatomy and physiology of the player which is wrong. Joint, ligament or any acute injuries need special treatment. Unless players and coaches understand that a player is made by team work of many experts and realizes scientific importance of specialized treatment they will not be aware of sports medicine," he said.
Shatrughna Gokhale, secretary of Nagpur District Basketball Association, too supports Simon's views on awareness. But he admits that the awareness in players comes only after certain level of exposure they get by reaching national or international levels. Doctors, he feels, thus should also try to reach players and associations for creating awareness. Principal of Ishwarchand Deshmukh College of Physical Education Anil Karvande says that majority sportspersons in city belong to low income group and cannot afford specialized care. But those who belong to upper income group do not approach sports medicine experts as coaches don't guide them rightly due to their own insecurity.
Interestingly, some players told TOI that they are aware that specialized treatment is available in city but didn't have any answer on why they didn't avail the facility. Sayali Waghmare, a 19-year-old athlete, said largely sportspersons are aware of the latest facilities but feel that local doctors should be more positive and forthcoming for retaining players for treatment in city.
Dr Jagtap says that though many orthopaedic surgeons can treat and operate sportspersons it is the new generation doctors like Dr Sonar who are specially trained in the field can make a dent in the field. "Arthroscopy which involves minimal invasive surgical intervention is a demanding surgery. Though only 10% patients may need it, only trained experts should be taking up such surgeries," he said.
FACILITIES AVAILABLE IN SPORTS MEDICINE
Radiofrequency (RF) treatment for tennis elbow or all racket related sports: The use of RF waves at the injury site recreates the trauma which in turn stimulates the body mechanism to initiate natural healing mechanism.
Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) therapy: It involves removal of 30-40 cc of blood from the patient, centrifuging it to generate platelet rich plasma which is injected back into the patient on the injury site. This releases growth factors and healing agents which naturally heal the wound.
High density video endoscopic system for arthroscopy: This equipment generates high resolution and exact image of the tissue damaged. It also carries a probe which corrects the damage surgically and can treat rotator cuff problem, repeated shoulder dislocations, knee/ankle ligament injuries.
1:50 PM

Career-ending sports injuries

Michael Schumacher's life-threatening fall while skiing in the Alps only highlights that player safety and the long-term consequences of their injuries has been one of the biggest issues in sports for a long time.

While a few have overcome injuries to make history, some have had to let go of the sport that gave them everything. Here's a look at few of the career-ending injuries in sports.

Saba Karim yorked behind the stumps
Saba Karim injured his eye against Bangladesh in the Asia Cup in Dhaka in 2000, when an Anil Kumble delivery, coming off the batsman's boot, struck him on the right eye. The wicket-keeper was forced to end his career, as despite an eye surgery in Chennai and treatment abroad, his eyesight had not shown signs of recovery

Boucher stumped by the bails
Mark Boucher had to retire following a freak eye injury sustained while playing a practice match against Somerset. A googly from Imran Tahir hit the stumps and a dislodged bail struck Boucher in the left eye. The England tour was supposed to mark his 150th Test appearance, but sadly, the South Africam wicket keeper was forced to retire with 998 international dismissals, including 555 from 147 Tests, which is a record

Mary Pierce's fatal fall
Two-time Grand Slam winner and former World No 3 Mary Pierce was forced into an early retirement following a torn ACL. Down a set, the tennis player chased a ball to her forehand side and planted her left foot awkwardly after hitting the shot. She collapsed, letting out a bloodcurdling scream and never played another match.

The free kick to Dean Ashton
Dean Ashton is an English footballer who played for England's national team and West Ham United. He sustained a broken ankle while training a day before his England debut in 2006. He recovered but the injury eventually forced him to retire from the game altogether in 2009. Ashton sued the Football Association for compensation after the shattered ankle he sustained in a tackle, and the two reached a settlement.

Raman Lamba 'shot' to death
Raman Lamba was an Indian cricketer who played in four Tests and 32 One Day Internationals, mainly as a batsman. He died in 1998, three days after a ball hit him in the head while he was fielding at forward short leg in the final of a club match in Bangladesh. Batsman Mehrab Hossain's shot of left arm spinner Saifullah Khan's delivery was so ferocious that the ball deflected from Lamba's head and flew into wicketkeeper Khaled Mashud's gloves. Although the injury initially did not appear to be serious, Lamba suffered an internal hemorrhage, slipped into coma and lost his life.

Destiny's cruel hand on Nari contractor
In 1962, Nari Contractor suffered a skull fracture off a Charlie Griffith delivery that nearly killed him. The stylish southpaw represented India in 31 tests from the mid 1950s to the early 1960s. Contractor's injury is a perfect example of destiny playing a cruel hand. First, he was not supposed to play this game, but had to since others were not fit. Next, he was dropped a ball earlier. And finally, there was a disturbance by some movement in the dressing room, which he decided to sort out after the deliver, but it was too late. Though he recovered from the injury, his international career was effectively over after that.
1:50 PM

India's first sports injury centre starts before CWG

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inaugurated India's first sports injury centre at Safdarjung hospital on Sunday. Officials claimed the centre, built at a cost of Rs 70.72 crore, will cater to athletes taking part in the Commonwealth Games and once the event is over, will provide world-class treatment to sportspersons in the country.

Officials said treatment for various sports injuries like runners knee, a painful condition generally associated with running, tennis elbow, broken bone and torn ligament etc will be available at the centre. Health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit were present at the inauguration on Sunday.

"Emergency services will be operational from Monday. All other services including indoor admissions and hydrotherapy units will be made functional in next two to three days," said Dr Deepak Chaudhury, director of the centre. He said the 35-bed hospital is equipped with modern operation theatres, physiotherapy units and diagnostic facilities such as digital x-ray, Doppler test and bone desitometry test.

"The centre will be a boon for arthritis patients and those suffering from joint problems. They will get specialized treatment for these problems, common among aged persons, almost free of cost," added another official. He said that a state-level cricketer Rohit has already been operated upon two days ago at the centre for shoulder injury.

The new centre has gym facilities for different group of patients, including facilities for cardio and strength training. There is a hydrotherapy unit which will provide sauna bath, chill shower and steam bath for faster recovery and rehabilitation. However, the electrical work in some of these units is yet to be finished.

The hospital has recruited 187 people, including specialized orthopaedic doctors, paramedics, nurses and physiotherapists for the centre. Usually injury cases, specially in contact sports, are referred for treatment abroad. "Cricketers often have to go to countries like South Africa and Australia for treatment of complex sports injuries, which cost above Rs 10 lakh. The centre will provide them with a cheaper alternative," said Dr Naval Bhatia, senior doctor at Safdarjung hospital.

Currently, there are few specialized doctors in sports medicine in the country. Other than the short-term diploma or certificate courses in sports medicine at Patiala, the country does not even have any special training facility for this field of medicine.