India blank Kenya 5-0
Glasgow: Indian shuttlers continued their good showing at the 20th Commonwealth Games as they blanked Kenya 5-0 on the second day of the mixed team competition to top group B, here on Friday. After thrashing Ghana and Uganda 5-0 on Thursday, India dished out yet another dominating performance to complete their group stage proceedings unconquered. K Srikanth and Jwala Gutta were the ones to start the proceedings for India as the makeshift mixed doubles pair mauled Mercy Joseph and Patrick Mbogo 21-8 21-8 in just 18 minutes. Delhi Games bronze medallist, Parupalli Kashyap then spanked Victor Munga 21-7 21-8 in a men’s singles match that lasted for just 20 minutes at the Emirates Arena here. P C Thulasi was then handed the task of shutting the door on the Kenyans and the 22-year-old didn’t disappoint as she notched up a 21-4 21-2 win over lavina Martins to make it 3-0 in India’s favour. RMV Gurusaidutt and Pranaav Chopra then combined to streamroll Joseph Githitu and Patrick 21-5 21-6 in the fourth match, while P V Sindhu paired up with Jwala to complete the whitewash with a 21-4 21-5 win over Martins and Joseph in the women’s doubles match.
life ban FOR para-athleteIJ
Glasgow: Even as confusion prevailed over how para-athlete Sachin Choudhary came here as a part of the Indian Commonwealth Games contingent without dope clearance, the Paralympic Committee of India was contemplating a life ban on the powerlifter. Choudhary checked in at the Athletes Village here as part of the Indian contingent but made a hasty return home on the pretext of deteriorating health of his ailing father. However, it is now confirmed that he failed a dope test conducted last month by the National Anti-Doping Agency and the PCI said it was mulling to even hand him a life ban. “Sachin’s dope sample taken by the NADA on June 23 was found to be positive for a banned substance and now he will give his B sample. We will take a decision after the result of B sample comes. We don’t tolerate doping by our athletes,” PCI Secretary J Chandrasekhar told PTI. “Surely, we will punish him and we are even thinking of slapping a life ban on him,” said Chandrasekhar, though it is not known whether an athlete can be handed a straight life ban on his first dope offence.
Sejwal qualifies
Glasgow: Sandeep Sejwal became the first Indian swimmer in the ongoing CWG to clear the qualification round and make it to the semifinals of the men’s 100m breaststroke event on Friday. Sejwal finished 12th overall after clocking 1:02.97 seconds in the heat to advance to the next round. A total of 16 swimmers qualified for the semifinal stage of the competition here at the Tollcross Swimming Centre. Sejwal came fourth in heat number three but 12th overall in a field of 34 swimmers. Adam Peaty of England topped the qualification round with a timing of 59.47 seconds, while Scotland’s Ross Murdoch finished second. The semifinal round will take place later tonight. However, India failed to make the main round of men’s 200m freestyle event, as Sajan Prakash finished a lowly 22nd in the qualification. Prakash took 1:53.82 seconds to finish the race as opposed to an impressive 1:46.39s set by the Cameron McEvoy of Australia to emerge on top.
Hoy CAN’T ENTER Hoy ARENA
Glasgow: British cycling great Chris Hoy was blocked from entering the Glasgow velodrome bearing his name because a CWG security worker had no idea who he was. Britain’s most successful Olympian was walking through the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, where the 2014 Games track cycling is taking place, when he was pulled up and asked for his identification. After checking his pass and realising who he was, the embarrassed guard told a BBC radio reporter: “Please, please can you apologise to him”, adding: “I didn’t realise who he was. My mum is going to kill me!” Six-time Olympic gold medallist Hoy, 38, took it all in good humour. “I was coming to the track and I had my pass on but it was back-to-front and I walked through the doorway and this arm grabbed me and said, ‘can I see your passIJ’,” he told BBC radio. “I was like, ‘oh, sorry’, I turned it round, she scanned it and just had a look at it to make sure that... I had the right access to the right area.” The Sun newspaper quoted him as saying: “Poor girl, she was just doing her job. I think she was a bit embarrassed about it afterwards. I felt sorry for her. She went bright red.”
cyclist reprimanded on gaza
Glasgow: A Malaysian cyclist at the Commonwealth Games who wore gloves with “Save Gaza” written on them has been reprimanded by his team and warned he will be expelled if he does it again. Azizulhasni Awang competed in the men’s sprint on Thursday wearing gloves that had the words “Save” written across knuckles on one hand and “Gaza” over the other. Awang’s fists featuring the message were held to cameras after the race, which took him into the quarterfinals. During Friday’s sprint races, Awang wore plain black gloves. Commonwealth Games Federation chief executive Mike Hooper said on Friday that Awang’s actions were “inappropriate” and he received “a strong reprimand from his team management.” Hooper says Awang “apologised profusely” and “knows any repetition will see a removal of his accreditation.”
joshna Chinappa loses
Glasgow: Indian squash star Joshna Chinappa suffered a 1-3 defeat against World No. 4 Joelle King of New Zealand in the round of 16 to crash out of the women’s singles competition. The 27-year-old from Chennai, who won the Winnipeg Winter Open trophy — her maiden WSA world title in February this year — lost 3-11 8-11 11-8 5-11 against her third seeded opponent at the Scotstoun Campus. King, who had won a silver and a gold in Delhi Games, started on an aggressive note winning the first two games. Chinappa tried to make a comeback and pocketed the third game but the New Zealander put it across the Indian in the fourth round comfortably. Chinappa was the first Indian girl to win the British Squash Championship title in 2003. India has not won a squash medal since the sport’s inception in the CWG programme in 1998.