New boxing body elected
Mumbai: Ending more than one-and-a-half year-old impasse in Indian boxing officialdom, a new body headed by industrialist Sandeep Jajodia was elected here today for a four-year term in the elections conducted via a secret ballot in the presence of two observers from world body AIBA. While Jajodia, representing Chhattisgarh BA, was elected unopposed as President of Boxing India (BI) in the elections in which 33 units took part, Jay Kowli of Maharashtra was elected as Secretary-General in a three- cornered contest in which he polled the highest number of votes (32), said AIBA’s India-based observer Kishen Narsi. Also elected as treasurer was Hemanta Kumar Kalita of Assam, who defeated two other rivals by garnering 41 votes, said Narsi, who was the AIBA observer along with AIBA’s legal manager Cliodhna Guy who had flown down from lausanne, Switzerland, to oversee the elections.
Mumbai FC in ‘talks’ with Anelka
New Delhi: Nicolas Anelka could be part of the Indian Super league football tournament as Mumbai City FC’s negotiations with the former France and Chelsea striker are at an “advanced” stage. The 35-year-old Anelka has already been sent a contract and he is expected to decide on it very soon. “Talks are at a very advanced stage and if everything falls into place, he will in all likelihood be joining the Mumbai City FC roster soon,” a reliable source in the know of the development said. Sources added that Anelka was yet to “sign on the dotted line”. The former Paris Saint-Germain, Arsenal, Real Madrid and Chelsea striker had been without a club since his controversial exit from West Brom earlier this year.
Eves continue dismal show
Tashkent: Indian women grapplers continued their disappointing performance with three of them making yet another early exit in their respective weight categories on day four of the FIlA World Championship, here today. While Men’s Freestyle wrestling ended with none of the eight Indians making it to the podium, the women also failed to make a mark so far in the tournament. Two wrestlers crashed out in the qualifying round itself on Thursday, while one failed to progress beyond the first round of the main competition. In Female Wrestling 75kg category, Bulgaria’s Stanka Zlateva outplayed Anshu Tomar 5-0 in the Round of 16. Nirmala lost 0-5 in the qualifying round bout of 53kg Female Wrestling against Sumiya Erdenechimeg of Mongolia, failing to make it to the proper competition.
Pujara gets out for duck
Cardiff: India’s Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara’s county debut turned into a nightmare as he got out without scoring in Derbyshire’s second innings in their bid to chase down a tricky target of 261 in a second division of English County Championship here on Thursday. After being trapped leg before by pacer Jim Allenby for seven in the first innings, the out-of-form Pujara lasted only eight minutes in his second essay facing six deliveries in the process. He was caught and bowled off right-arm seamer Michael Hogan’s delivery. Pujara failed to read a slower as he offered a simple return catch to the bowler. Pujara thus scored seven runs from the two innings and will get another three matches to prove his mettle and earn a full contract during the next county season.
Narang misses Olympic quota
Granada (Spain): Gagan Narang missed out on an Olympic quota by just one place as he finished sixth in the finals of 50-metre rifle prone while Prakash Nanjappa and Jitu Rai narrowly missed out on finals of men’s 10-metre air pistol in the 51st Shooting World Championships here on Thursday. After coming through the tough qualifying, Narang could total only 124.2 by the time the top 5, including the three medallists, were decided in the finals. Five Olympic quotas were on offer in the event. Another Indian, Hariom Singh, could not make it to the finals after finishing 45th in the qualifying.
Four Indians reach pre-quarters
Palembang: Four Indian shuttlers, Ajay Jayaram, B Sai Praneeth, H S Prannoy and Anand Pawar advanced to the prequarterfinals of the USD 12,500 Indonesian Masters Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament in the men’s singles competition, here on Thursday. Jayaram and Praneeth will clash in the prequarterfinals, following their gruelling three-game wins in the second round at the GOR Jakabaring stadium. Finding his way back into international badminton after a shoulder injury, Jayaram, seeded 14th, prevailed over local shuttler Alamsyah Yunus 13-21, 21-19, 21-16 in a 56-minute battle. Sixth seed Praneeth also dug deep to see off Malaysia’s Kian Meng Tan 21-19 18-21 21-17 in a hard-fought contest that lasted for an hour and 14 minutes today. Fifth seeded Indian H S Prannoy also reached the prequarterfinals after notching up an nerve-wrecking 21-17 25-27 21-18 win over Indonesia’s Muhammad Bayu Pangisthu in an over one hour match. He will take on 16th seeded Sukamta Every of Indonesia. The other Indian in fray, Anand Pawar, seeded fourth, beat Malaysia’s Joo Ven Soong 21-19 21-15 to set up a clash with another local shuttler, Mahbub Thomi Azizan. PNS/Agencies