EB out of title race with fourth loss in row
Barasat: There was no end to East Bengal's misery as lowly-placed DSK Shivajians handed them their fourth loss on the trot with a 1-0 win in the I-league here on Sunday. The decisive move came in the 29th minute when Man of the Match Jerry Mawihmingthanga beat an offside trap to head past East Bengal goalkeeper Subhasish Roy Chowdhury, dashing their slender hopes of winning the title, which has remained elusive so far. Halicharan Narzary began the move in an one-two from the corner and his pass to Juan Quero Barraso was curled in by the former Real Madrid player. Credit should also be given to the veteran Subrata Paul who stood like a wall as East Bengal's repeated attacks were thwarted by the India goalkeeper. Paul's best came minutes after they went up as he pulled off saves from back to back attacks by Rowllin Borges. He also stood tall with another brilliant save, punching off a move from Borges at the stroke of half time.
Gopichand's daughter wins in Jakarta
New Delhi: National badminton coach Pullela Gopichand's daughter Gayatri Pullela has bagged both the singles and doubles crown at the Pembangunan Jaya Raya Junior Grand Prix in Jakarta. Gayatri eked out a hard-fought 21-11 18-21 21-16 win over her doubles partner Samiya Farooqui to win the girls U-15 singles title. Gayatri later teamed up with Samiya to clinch the U-15 doubles title with a straight game 21-17 21-15 win over Indonesian pair of Kelly larissa and Shelandry Vyola. Both Gayatri and Samiya train together at the Pullela Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad. Speaking after the U-15 doubles event, Samiya said, "It was a great experience for me considering I was playing my own partner in the singles final. Tournaments like these are a great learning for us, and we look forward to many such competitions. I would also like to thank our coach Gopi sir who is helping us get better and better."
Amanpreet inches closer to title
Dirang Valley (Arunachal Pradesh): Amanpreet Ahluwalia extended his good run on the second day of the JK Tyre Arunachal Festival of Speed here on Sunday, taking four of the five special stages to stay in contention for the overall championship. Riding a Maruti Gypsy, the former Indian National Rally champion registered a time of 34 minutes and 32 seconds to open up a comfortable lead of 28 seconds over second placed K.M. Bopaiah. Bopaiah, the top seeded rallyist in the fray here, took advantage of his 1600cc Vento's speed to win the last stage of the day, zipping on the one-kilometre tarmac stretch and an easy three-kilometre valley floor. However, he couldn't match Amanpreet in the other stages. Delhi's seasoned rallyist Sandeep Sharma held on to his third place, 24 seconds behind Bopaiah and 52 behind Amanpreet. "It was quite a happening day for us. We have a decent lead as of now. But till the time it's actually over, it's never over. So fingers crossed," Amanpreet said.