India add two more medals
Nanjing: Weightlifter Venkat Rahul Ragala clinched a gold medal in the 77kg category while Shainki Nagar shot silver in the 10m air pistol as India swelled its medal tally to eight at the second Youth Asian Games, here on Wednesday. Venkat lifted a cumulative total of 310 kg in the Snatch and Clean & Jerk to win the yellow metal. The best effort from the 16-year-old came in the third attempt when he lifted 142kg in Snatch and 168kg in Clean & Jerk style. He was followed by China’s Xingyu lu with a total 285kg and Pichet Maneesri (280kg) of Thailand on the podium at Nanjing International Expo Centre. In the men’s 10m air pistol event, Shainki accumulated 195.3 points in the finals and narrowly missed out on a gold medal which went to China’s Wu Jiayu who finished with a total of 195.5 at Fangshan Hall. Uzebekistan’s Refat Girfanov earned the bronze with a score of 174.7 points. India’s Samarjit Singh too qualified for the final round but could only manage 134 points and finished fifth in the competition.
Somdev advances to 2nd round
New York: Somdev Devvarman, India’s numero uno singles player, cleared the first hurdle in the US Open qualifying tournament with a straight set win over Fabiano De Paula, here. Somdev, seeded sixth, defeated his Brazilian rival 6-4 6-3 in one hour and nine minutes in the the first round contest of the US Open qualifiers. Somdev, ranked 113, broke Paula one time in the opening set while thrice in the second. He will next face American Robby Ginepri, ranked 123 places below him at 236.
Another over-age issue
New Delhi: Adding to embarrassment for the country, another Indian weightlifter was today disqualified from the Youth Asian Games in Nanjing due to overage, taking the total number of such athletes to 25. Manpreet Kaur (women’s 63kg) became the fourth Indian weightlifter to be disqualified as she was found to be above 17 years of age.
Vani, Shweta share lead on Day 1
Bangalore: Rookie golfer Shweta Galande and Delhi’s Vani Kapoor shared the lead with identical par scores at the end of round one of the Hero-KGA Women’s Pro-Golf Championship. The eighth leg of the INR 5,00,000 Pro Golf Tour is being played at the tricky KGA golf course from August 21 to 23. Shweta had a strong start with two consecutive birdies on the 3rd and 4th hole followed by three more birdies on the 7th, 10th and 11th holes.
Fish withdraws from US Open
New York: Former top-10 player Mardy Fish pulled out of the U.S. Open on Wednesday, the latest setback in his bid to make a comeback on tour after dealing with heart issues. The U.S. Tennis Association said the 31-year-old American cited “personal reasons” for his withdrawal. The draw for the year’s last Grand Slam tournament is Thursday, and play begins Monday. Fish’s Twitter feed carried this message Wednesday: “Friends, unfortunately my health won’t allow me to compete this year at the US Open. Thank you for all your support.”
Pune FC granted exemption
New Delhi: Pune FC were today granted exemption to play in the I-league by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) but the cases of the 12 I-league outfits will be taken up next week. Now the licensing committee’s First Instance Body will decide on the fate of these teams on August 27. The Club licensing Appeals Committee meeting was held at AIFF Headquarters here and chaired by Justice N K Sud, former Justice, Punjab & Haryana High Court.
PNS/agencies