Phelps fastest in return
Phoenix: Michael Phelps led the way into the 100m butterfly final at the Mesa Pro Swim meeting on Friday in his first race since August. Phelps, back from a six-month suspension in the wake of his drunk-driving arrest last September, clocked 52.92sec to top the qualifying times in the 100m fly, an event in which he set the world record in 2009 and has won at three Olympics. "It was just weird racing because it's been so long," said the 29-year-old, who said his plan with coach Bob Bowman for the heat was simple. Don't worry about stroke, don't worry about anything, just get in the water and race, and that's what I did," Phelps said.
lewis denies asking for no.1 status
Manama (Bahrain): World champion lewis Hamilton vehemently denied that he has requested 'number one' driver status in the Mercedes team and claimed he and team-mate Nico Rosberg are reunited 'without any issues' in this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix. Asked about his contract negotiations and a particular suggestion that one reason why his new contract had not been agreed and signed was his request for number one status, he said he had never in his career asked for any kind of preferential treatment. "Never, never have I asked for that," he said. "I just want to beat my team-mate out on the track and prove myself that way and not by my team-mate having his hands tied behind his back." In the second practice session in Bahrain, Rosberg came out ahead of his team-mate with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen third.
Jaroslav Holik dies at 72
Prague: Jaroslav Holik, an offensive forward who helped Czechoslovakia win a hockey world title and an Olympic bronze medal in 1972, has died. He was 72. The Czech ice hockey federation said on Friday that Holik, the father of NHl player Bobby Holik, died after battling an unspecified, long-term illness. Holik scored 57 goals for Czechoslovakia in his 142 international games and led his country to the bronze medal at the 1972 Olympics in Sapporo. The Czechs also won six world championship medals, including gold in 1972. After retirement, he became a successful coach, leading the Czech under-20 team to two straight world junior hockey titles in 2000-01.
BAI violating rti act says DBA
New Delhi: Delhi Badminton Association's secretary SP Singh in a letter to IOA president N Ramachandran has highlighted the lack of compliance of RTI Act by Badminton Association of India naming Akhilesh Das Gupta in the process. Singh mentioned BAI have been receiving government funds to the tune of Rs15 crore a year despite not adhering with the requirements for a national sports federation and not making information public by 1st April, 2015 as per the regulation. He also brought to notice that the Sports Ministry is aware of this scenario.
Ghosal beats nO. 7 AGAIN
Zurich: India's top male squash player Saurav Ghosal upstaged World No.7 Tarek Momen for the second successive time this month to enter the quarterfinals at the PSA Grasshopper Cup here. There was less drama as compared to their last contest in Egypt earlier in month as 23-ranked Ghosal got past Momen 11-9, 4-11, 11-4,11-6 in an opening round match held on Thursday. He had beaten the Egyptian in five gruelling games at El Gouna.
Novak vs Nadal in monte carlo sf
Monaco: Novak Djokovic won the first eight games of his Monte Carlo Masters quarterfinal match on Friday before Marin Cilic managed to hold his serve. In the end, though, the top-ranked Djokovic powered his way into the semifinals with a 6-0, 6-3 victory. Djokovic, who ended Rafael Nadal's reign in Monte Carlo when he won the clay-court Masters tournament in 2013, will next face the Spaniard. Nadal, an eight-time champion, had to battle for nearly three hours before securing a 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 victory over David Ferrer. Earlier, Tomas Berdych advanced to the semifinals for the third time after Milos Raonic retired with a foot injury. He will face Gael Monfils, who followed up his convincing win over Roger Federer in the previous round with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over ninth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov.
India in fed cup group ii finals
Hyderabad: India stormed into the finals of the Fed Cup (Group-II) Asia-Oceania tennis tournament here on Friday following another one-sided 2-0 victory over Turkmenistan. India's Ankita Raina and Prarthana G Thombare beat their respective Turkmenistan rivals in the two singles matches played at lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium. Thombare defeated Jahana Bayramova 6-0, 6-2 with no serious resistance being offered to the Indian by her rival. Raina thrashed Anastafiya Prenko 6-1, 6-2 in the second singles match as the hosts breezed into the summit round.
Hope to be No. 1 for long: Saina
Bengaluru: It won't be easy to hold her recently-acquired No. 1 position in the world rankings but shuttler Saina Nehwal says she is confident of a long reign at the top and is prepared to put in the extra effort for it. "It will be tough maintaining the number one ranking, but people should respect that I have been the first one to reach number one slot," Saina said. "If everything falls well in line and if I train well, then I am sure I can maintain it for a long time but it is not going to be easy.”
FCI in quarter-finals
New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh Ranji player Umang Sharma smashed unbeaten 142 off 115 balls with 2 sixes and 21 fours helping last year’s winners Food Corporation of India beat Hari Singh Cricket Academy by seven wickets to enter the QF of 25th All-India Om Nath Sood Memorial Cricket Tournament being played at St. Stephen College grounds, here on Friday.