India will miss Dhoni: Misbah
lahore: Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq said that India will miss the experience of Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the upcoming Asia Cup, but insisted his side will not be taking the World Champions lightly as they remain a strong unit without their regular skipper. “They will miss his experience and captaincy but Virat Kohli is a suitable replacement and India remains a strong challenge in the tournament,” Misbah told reporters at the Gaddafi stadium. “But India apart, I say again and again that all the teams in the Asia Cup remain strong challengers for the title,” he said.
Balwant denies Bagan win
Kolkata: A listless Mohun Bagan failed to take advantage of two gifted goals as Churchill Brothers rode on a spectacular double by Balwant Singh for a 2-2 draw in their round 18 I-league fixture on Friday. Battling relegation, the defending champions exploited Mohun Bagan’s fragile defence as an unmarked Balwant put the team ahead with a header in the 36th minute from a Thangjam Singh cross in the right. A minute later, Churchill midfielder Alesh Sawant, while trying to clear the ball for a corner, scored an own goal to gift Mohun Bagan an easy equaliser. Mohun Bagan went ahead in the 56th minute thanks to some inexperience goalkeeping by lalit Thapa who brought down Christopher Chizoba inside the box for a resultant spotkick that was well executed by the Nigerian.
Somdev in semis, Ankita out
New Delhi: Somdev Devvarman reached the singles semifinal of the ONGC-GAIl Delhi Open after Ze Zhang retired mid-way due to a shoulder injury while Ankita Raina waged a brave fight before bowing out of the women’s ITF event here on Friday. Somdev had pocketed the first set 6-2 when Zhang’s injured shoulder did not let him continue, sending the Indian into his third successive semifinal. In the women’s singles quarterfinals, India’s number one player Ankita Raina put up a spirited fight against third seed Yulia Beygelzimer from Ukraine as she saved three match points before losing 3-6, 5-7 in two hours and five minutes on court number one.
Barca indicted over tax fraud
Madrid: A judge indicted Spanish football champions Barcelona over alleged tax crimes linked to their signing of Brazilian star striker Neymar. Prosecutors accuse Barcelona, who currently have a narrow lead at the top of the Spanish league, of irregularities in the 86-million-euro (USD 118 million) deal — charges which the club denies. Judge Pablo Ruz at Madrid’s National Court indicted the club after seeing “sufficient evidence to investigate a possible crime against the public treasury”, he said in a written ruling. The judge ordered tax authorities to hand over the club’s tax returns for 2011 to 2013. He sought to establish whether or not Neymar, who joined Barcelona in May 2013, was counted as a taxpayer in Spain or his native Brazil that year. The judge also asked tax authorities to provide information about the taxing of deals linked to Neymar’s signing and about how much may have been “defrauded”.
Two athletes fail dope test
Sochi: A German athlete at the Winter Olympics has failed a doping test, the national team said the first such case to hit the Sochi Games. The German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) said it had been informed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that the “A” sample “of a member of the German Olympic team produced a result that diverged from the norm”. Meanwhile, Bobsledder William Frullani was kicked out of the Sochi Games after a positive doping test, the Italian Olympic committee announced Friday. CONI said it was informed by the International Olympic Committee that Frullani came up positive for the banned stimulant dimetylpentylamine in a test taken in the Olympic Village on Tuesday. Frullani asked for a backup test that was taken Friday and “confirmed the positive result, resulting in his exclusion from the Italian delegation,” CONI said.
Canada win men’s curling gold
Sochi: Canada won a third consecutive Olympic title in men’s curling with an overwhelming 9-3 victory over Britain in eight ends Friday to complete the country’s sweep of the gold medals at the Sochi Games. Canada beat Sweden in the women’s final on Thursday. Playing in their typically aggressive manner, Brad Jacobs’ Canadian team pounced on a string of mistakes by Britain to take a 6-1 lead after four ends. The British conceded with two ends still available because of the large deficit.
Chopra takes Ahmedabad to final
Mumbai: Vikrant Chopra staged a grand recovery and won the deciding match against Krrish Colombo to power Navratna Ahmedabad into the final of the 3rd louis Philippe Cup Golf championship at the par-70 Bombay Presidency Golf Club, Chembur, here on Friday. Chopra’s victory over Sri lankan pro K Prabagaran, when the teams were tied 1-1, enabled Ahmedabad to ease into Saturday’s summit clash against Puravankara Bangalore who drubbed AVT Kolkata 3-0 in the other semifinal. Chopra pulled a rabbit out of the hat in a nail-biting clash against Prabagaran who trailed by two shots going into the final hole, and then fired a timely eagle to bridge the gap and put pressure on Chopra. However, the 34-year-old Chopra showed nerves of steel as he replied with an apt birdie putt to clinch the issue 71-72 in favour of the Ahmedabad team and carry them to the title round. Chopra, ranked 27 on the PGTI Tour, lacked consistency and did not have a great round. He had four bogeys on the front nine, and doubled bogeyed the 12th, but made up with five birdies, including the crucial one on the final hole.
11 selected in rising stars 2014
New Delhi: Airtel Rising Stars 2013-14, a talent hunt program which provides the young footballers opportunity to train at Manchester United Soccer School, today concluded with selection of 11 under-16 players. The selected players were Arka Dey and Rajib Roy from Kolkata, Md Aqib and Karan Khurana from Delhi, Premchand Singh and Niraj Singh from Bangalore, Sanath Valldares and Akram Khan from Mumbai, Rakesh K from Hyderabad, liston Colaco and Jolitan Dias from Goa.
Mithali to lead India in World T20
New Delhi: Senior batswoman Mithali Raj will lead the 14-member Indian team in the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 starting March 23 in Bangladesh, the BCCI announced on Friday. Squad: Mithali Raj (Captain), Harmanpreet Kaur (Vice-Captain), Smriti Mandhana, V R Vanitha, Madhuri Meheta, latika Kumari, Karuna Jain, Jhulan Goswami, Gouher Sultana, Soniya Dabir, Shikha Pandey, Poonam Yadav, Sravanthi Naidu, S Shubh lakshmi.