Will be hard to watch WC: ibra
Paris: After missing out on the World Cup, Sweden forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic doesn’t consider the tournament to be compulsory viewing - at least for him. Sweden was eliminated in the playoffs last month by Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal, leaving 32-year-old Ibrahimovic with some time off after Paris Saint-Germain’s season. “For sure I will see some games, but it’s not like I will run home and sit in front of the television,” he said Friday. “I’m suffering. It goes away, slowly, slowly,” he said. “Every game I am playing and trying to bring out this anger in a positive way. “I think that disappointment will come back in the World Cup,” he added.
Sindhu pulls out of Korea Open
New Delhi: After Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap, top shuttler P.V. Sindhu has pulled out of the season opening $600,000 Korea Open Super Series to be held in Seoul Jan 7-12. Saina and Kashyap withdrew their entries in the last two days citing ill health and injury. “My coach Pullela Gopichand told me to withdraw my entry from Korea Open yesterday. Now I will play the Malaysia Open Super Series Premier and the India Grand Prix Gold events in January,” Sindhu said here.
The Malaysia Open (Jan 14-19) is followed by the GP Gold event in lucknow (Jan 21-26) where she reached the final last year.
Ghosal, Joshna clinch titles
Mumbai: World no 15 and men’s top seed Saurav Ghosal and women’s no. 1 seed Joshna Chinappa toyed with their respective rivals to defend their titles successfully in the 38th Bombay Gymkhana-HSBC Maharashtra State Open Senior Squash Championship here on Saturday. Ghosal outclassed world no 80 and second seed Harinderpal Singh Sandhu in straight games 11-4, 11-6, 11-5 in the men’s final that lasted 40 minutes to take home the winner’s prize of `1.3 lakh. World no. 26 Joshna thumped Aishwarya Bhattacharya, conqueror of second seed and last year’s runner-up Urwashi Joshi in the semis, 11-1, 11-1, 11-3 in a lop-sided women’s title clash that lasted just 20 minutes.
Samresh wins gold in 25m pistol
New Delhi: Ace marksman Samresh Jung won gold while Olympic medallist Vijay Kumar settled for a bronze in 25 meter standard pistol event at the 57th National Shooting Championship at Dr Karni Singh Ranges here on Saturday. Samresh, representing CISF in the championship, shot 576 points to bag the gold. Rajasthan’s Mahaveer Singh won the silver with 569 while Vijay of Army had to be satisfied with bronze on 566 points. Another international medallist Jaspal Rana of Delhi scored 561 points in the event. In the junior category of 25 standard pistol, Sunil Gurung of Army clinched the gold with 554 points, ONGC’s Ajitesh Kaushal scored 552 to claim the silver, while Neeraj Kumar of Army bagged the bronze medal with a score of 547.
Sayali, Sindhu, Kashyap in qtrs
New Delhi: Defending champion Sayali Gokhale and P V Sindhu stayed on course for a summit clash showdown in the 78th ATS Senior National Badminton championship after both the players registered easy victories to reach the women’s singles quarterfinals at the Siri Fort Sports Complex on Saturday. Seventh seed Sayali defeated former junior national champion Ruth Misha of Karnataka 21-19, 21-6 victory. She will now face 13th seed Aarthi Sara Sunil of Kerala, who defeated Assam’s Bornali Konwar 21-13, 21-9. In the bottom half, Sindhu looked to be in a hurry to go back to the warmth of her hotel room as she demolished 9th seed Mudra Dhainje 21-3, 21-7 in just 23 minutes to set up a quarterfinal clash against 5th seed P C Thulasi. Thulasi also sailed through the last eight with a 21-7, 21-5 win over 10th seed Jacqueline Rose Kunnath. In the men’s singles,P Kashyap beat Shubhankar Dey 21-14, 21-13; while HS Prannoy defeated 14-Abhimanyu Singh 21-14, 21-10.
Odafa scores twice as Bagan win
Kolkata: Okolie Odafa regained his silken touch with twin-strike that helped Mohun Bagan record a 3-1 victory over Pune FC in a 16th round I-league encounter here on Saturday. Ram Malik was the other scorer for the green and maroon brigade. The win also put an end to speculations about the removal of Moroccan coach Karim Bencharifa for the time being. Starting as underdogs, Mohun Bagan looked a reformed side with Odafa striking in the 30th and 80th minutes, for the Nigerian’s tally to only three this season.
life bans imposed in Malaysia
Kuala lumpur: Malaysian football authorities have imposed a lifetime ban on five players and three officials for match-fixing in the domestic league, a senior football official said on Saturday. The eight, who represented Kuala lumpur, were also slapped with a 20,000 ringgit ($6,084) fine each, part of Football Association of Malaysia’s (FAM) push to fight match-rigging in the Southeast Asian country. Taufek Abdul Razak, FAM disciplinary committee chairman said another seven players from the same football club will face a disciplinary hearing on Friday. “It is a deterrent punishment. We are serious in fighting match-fixing,” he said.
Sporting beat United Sports 1-0
Mapusa: Sporting Clube de Goa avenged their first leg defeat as they edged past United Sports Club by a solitary goal in the Airtel I-league match at the Duler Stadium here on Saturday. Sporting Clube de Goa ended the year on a winning note to stay in second place with 27 points from 14 matches, three points behind the leaders – Bengaluru FC — who have played one match more than them. Sporting took an early lead in the fourth minute through Rojen Singh. PNS/Agencies