Aditya, Rituparna move into final
Patna: Holder Aditya Joshi of Air India in boys U-19 and Rituparna Das Of Telengana in girls U-19 sailed into the finals of the 39th Junior National Badminton Championship at the Patliputra Sports Complex here on Tuesday. Siril Varma and Chirag Sen and Vrushali G and Shriyanshi Pardeshi moved into the U-17 boys and girls finals respectively. Aditya Joshi (AI) defeated Koushik M (AI) 21-18, 21-13 and Harshil Dhani (AI) beat Chirag Sen 21-18, 21-16 in the U-19 boys semi-finals here on Tuesday. Ruthvika Shavani pipped team-mate G Vrushali 21-16, 21-13 while Rituparna Das beat Sri Krishna Priya 21-9, 21-10.
National Games theme song today
Thiruvananthapuram: The theme song of the 35th National Games, composed by famous singer and composer Hariharan, will be launched formally by Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, at the Olympia Chamber, Chandrashekharan Nair stadium, here on Wednesday. The song has been composed embodying the larger theme of national integration, sportsman spirit and the country's youthful exuberance. The three-minute song which has a mix of languages — Hindi, Malayalam and English —has been penned by the famous Urdu poet and Bollywood lyricist Javed Akthar. The song reasserts the nation's expectation on its youth and glorifies and the potential of sports and games in making lives brighter. The function will also feature the formal release of the promotional video of the 35th National Games starring the Games' Goodwill Ambassador and Sachin Tendulkar.
Arie Irawan earns Asian Tour card
Kuala lumpur: Malaysia's young golf talent Arie Irawan is thankful for the opportunity to play in the region's premier Tour in 2015 after earning his card with a sixth-place finish in the 2014 Asian Development Tour (ADT) Order of Merit. The ADT rewarded the top five players on its merit rankings with playing rights on the Asian Tour this season. It was, however, a special case for Arie because Thailand's Sattaya Supupramai, who finished fourth in the ADT Order of Merit, managed to secure his card through finishing inside the top 60 in the Asian Tour rankings. Arie, who earned $37,275, was the next best player on the ADT to be rewarded with an Asian Tour card for 2015.
UEFA fines four clubs for unpaid bills
Geneva: Four football clubs were fined and barred from playing in Europe's club competitions by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for being payment defaulters. UEFA said in a statement Monday that its Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) had decided to sanction against Bursaspor of Turkey, FK Ekranas of lithuania, and Romanian clubs CFR Cluj and Astra Giurgiu "for overdue payables", reports Xinhua. Bursaspor will be blocked from participating till 2019 unless the club pays all pending dues from Sep 30, 2014, by Jan 31, 2015. The club was also fined 100,000 euros, but half of that would be lifted if the club pays its overdue bills within the stipulated time, said the UEFA. The other three clubs were also excluded and fined.
Ankita, Prarthana in second round
Pune: India's Ankita Raina and Prarthana Thombare entered the singles second round while their compatriot Mohika Yadav, a wild card, put up a gutsy fight before losing in the NECC-ITF women's USD 25,000 tennis tournament at the Deccan Gymkhana, here on Tuesday. Fourth seed Ankita, the India no. 1, saved four match-points in the third set to beat compatriot Rutuja Bhosale 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (8-6) in 2 hours and 45 minutes. Rutuja, who is currently studying in the United States, showed immense improvement in her game when she rallied brilliantly after losing the first set 3-6 to take the second 6-2 and take the match into the decider. Firing down seven aces, Pune girl Prarthana - a wild card - ousted qualifier Katarzyna Kawa of Poland 6-2, 6-1.
Soccer coach charged with murder
liverpool: A soccer coach accused of murdering an off-duty police officer has appeared in an English court. Christopher Spendlove was fired Monday as assistant coach of Oklahoma City Energy, which plays in the USl PRO league, after being charged by authorities in his native liverpool. The 30-year-old Spendlove and 28-year-old Andrew Taylor are both accused of attacking officer Neil Doyle in liverpool city center early Friday. A post-mortem examination found that Doyle died from a fatal bleed around the brain. Spendlove and Taylor appeared at liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday to face murder and assault charges. Ahead of the hearing, Energy FC announced that Spendlove was dismissed "given the seriousness of the charges."
Maha, UP tame rivals to enter top 8
Rajahmundry: Maharashtra A and Uttar Pradesh defeated Goa and Madhya Pradesh to enter the sub-junior girls quarterfinals of the 76th Cadet and Sub-Junior National Table Tennis Championships at Cherukuri Convention Centre here on Tuesday. Other quarterfinal winners are TN, Rajasthan, Telangana, Delhi, Karnataka and West Bengal.