India’s practice tie washed out
leicester: Inclement weather played spoilsport as it prevented a single delivery from being bowled during the second day’s play in the opening tour fixture between India and leicestershire, On Friday.India were comfortably placed at 333 for four at the end of first day’s play with Shikhar Dhawan (60), Gautam Gambhir (54) and Cheteshwar Pujara (57), all scoring half-centuries.Rohit Sharma (43 batting) and Ajinkya Rahane (47 batting) also were close to 50-run mark. Heavy overnight and morning showers put paid to any chances of the game starting on time during the morning session.The weather did improve during the post-lunch session as the ground staff tried their best to get some play on the day.But more rain later in the afternoon made sure that the second day was abandoned robbing the Indian bowlers a chance to get some quality match time like their batsmen got on the first day.
Veer bags gold
Mumbai: India’s top junior squash players — Veer Chotrani and Yash Fadte — won gold and silver medals, respectively in the 21st Asian Junior Individual Squash Championship in Kish Island, Iran.Mumbai lad and top seed Chotrani bounced back to defeat second seed Fadte 8-11, 13-11, 11-9, 11-9 in a thrilling 51-minute under-13 final.After leading 1-0, Fadte of Goa, was serving for the second set but he lost it over extra points in a nail-biting finish. The next two sets also ended in tight finishes as Chotrani bagged the gold with a hard-fought victory. The competition was held for boys’ and girls’ under-13, under-15, under-17 and under-19, under the aegis of the Asian Squash Federation.
Williams upbeat ahead of GP
london: Claire Williams is confident her team is on the way back to being a major force in Formula One after a recent return to form.Williams’ drivers Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa finished third and fourth respectively in the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday after a front-row lock-out in qualifying, giving the British outfit its best points return (33) from a single race since a new scoring system was introduced in 2010.It was all very different last year when Williams, a team with nine Formula One constructors’ championships and seven drivers’ titles to its credit, could only manage just five points with a ninth-place finish confirming their worst-ever season.
Australia great De Young retires
Melbourne: Olympic gold medallist liam De Young became the latest leading Australian field hockey star to announce his retirement on Friday. De Young, 32, is one of only four men to play more than 300 games for Australia and leaves the sport a three-time Olympic medallist, double World Cup winner, three-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist and four-time Champions Trophy winner.He joins veteran midfielder Rob Hammond and long-time coach Ric Charlesworth, 62, has also announced he was stepping down before next month’s CWG in Glasgow.
Atletico official in Kolkata
Kolkata: A key official of the Atletico Madrid’s marketing and sales team today held a meeting with their city partners ahead of the ISl Kolkata franchise’s grand unveiling on July 7.Javier Martinez, the managing director of the business development marketing and sales at the Spanish club, met the city-based co-owners of Atletico de Kolkata to discuss the team branding and marketing aspects.”We had positive discussions to chalk out some key team branding strategies,” a team source said.
PNS/Agencies