Kashyap, Sindhu ADVANCE
Taipei: london Olympics quarter-finalist Parupalli Kashyap and rising Indian woman shuttler P V Sindhu won their respective first round matches in the men’s and women’s singles event in the Badminton Asia Championship here on Wednesday. Seeded fourth at the tournament, Kashyap came from a game down to beat Ji Hoon Hong of South Korea 18-21, 21-15, 22-20. He took an hour and nine minutes to complete the job. The world No.7 Indian will take on local player, Han Chou Chu in the second round. Sai Praneeth B also made the second round after beating Mohamed Ajfan Rasheed 21-10, 21-12 in only 22 minutes. In women’s singles, Sindhu registered a comfortable 21-18, 21-19 win over Tsz Ka Chan of Hong Kong in just over half an hour. Sindhu will face a tough challenge in round two where she is pitted against World No 6 Wang Shixian.
Indians shine in shotgun WC
Al Ain,UAE: Veteran Mansher Singh led Indian trap shooters’ impressive display as he jointly held the top spot after two rounds in the men’s trap qualifying event on the first day of the ISSF Shotgun World Cup here on Wednesday. Mansher shot a perfect 25 each in the two rounds with the remaining three to be held tomorrow. He was sharing the top spot with Slovakia’s Marian Kovacocy and Giovanni Pellielo of Italy. The other two Indians in the fray — Manavjit Singh Sandhu and Zoravar Singh Sandhu — were placed fourth and fifth after shooting 24 and 25 each respectively for a total of 49.
ioa-MinistrY TAlKS postponeD
New Delhi: Acting Indian Olympic Association chief V K Malhotra said on Wednesday that he will not meet Sports Minister on Thursday in connection with the joint meeting with the IOC next month but said he would do so in the next few days. Malhotra was to meet Sports Minister Jitendra Singh in connection with the joint meeting of the IOA and Sports Ministry representatives with the International Olympic Committee in lausanne on May 7. Malhotra, who is recognised by the IOC as the head of the banned IOA, said the issue of the implementation of the Sports Code will have to sorted out before the joint meeting with the world body. Earlier on Wednesday, Jitendra had a meeting with the IOC member in India, Randhir Singh in a bid to present a united front from the country in the joint meeting with the world body.
Brazil assures safe WC, games
Rio de Janeiro: Brazilian officials said they were closely following the investigation into the explosions at Boston Marathon as they consider whether to change security measures for next year’s World Cup and 2016 Olympics. But a top official with FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, said his organisation was already planning tougher security for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil in light of the Boston attack. FIFA Secretary-General Jerome Valcke said during a visit to Haiti on Tuesday that the measures would include secret service agents, police officers, military and Interpol. Valcke also said a perimeter adding a second layer of security protection would be set up around Brazil’s stadiums, with inspections of everyone passing through. As during the last World Cup in South Africa, a satellite will provide surveillance over Brazil, he said. Brazil is two months away from hosting the Confederations Cup, the World Cup warm-up tournament.
PNS/Agencies