India draws Pak for away tie in Sept
Nagpur: The Indian Davis Cup team was on Wednesday drawn to meet Pakistan in away tie, which could well be shifted to a neutral venue provided the central government sticks to its current policy of not allowing sporting teams to travel to the neighbouring country. No Indian Davis Cup squad has travelled to Pakistan since March 1964 and in that tie, held in Lahore, India had won 4-0. The draw for the tie, which will be held in September this year, took place in London. The winner will move to the World Group Qualifiers. India, who is a formidable side in Asia/Oceania zone, have never lost to Pakistan in six meetings so far. Pakistan would be no match to India since none of their singles players are even ranked on ATP computer as per the new regulations. They have a good competitor only in Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi, who is ranked 67 in the doubles.
Case filed against hardik, Rahul, KJo
Jodhpur: In fresh trouble for cricketers Hardik Pandya and K L Rahul and filmmaker Karan Johar over comments on women made on a television show, the police here have registered a case against them. The two cricketers were made to sit out of the India-Australia ODI series and were briefly suspended by the BCCI after a row over their comments on chat show "Koffee with Karan", which many thought were sexist and vulgar. The FIR was lodged on the directions of a magistrate's court, Luni station house officer Bansi Lal said on Wednesday. Local resident D R Meghwal had approached the court seeking an order for the police to register a case against the three men. The petitioner termed the remarks indecent and said they were made deliberately to increase the popularity of the show. In his complaint, Meghwal said Johar deliberately presented content that humiliated women.
Dipa to compete at World Cups
New Delhi: Ace Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar will be competing in back-to-back World Cups next month to enhance her chances of qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Dipa had claimed a Bronze at the vault event of the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Cottbus, Germany in November, last year, to make a strong bid for her Olympic qualification. It was Dipa's first appearance after recovering from a knee strain which spoilt her Jakarta Asian Games, where she missed the vault final and also had to pull out of the team event due to a knee strain. The Indian, who vaulted her way to a fourth place finish at the Rio Olympics, will now compete at the Baku World Cup (March 14-17) and Doha World Cup (March 20-23). The two events are part of an eight-event qualifying system for the 2020 Olympics, under which the gymnasts will make the cut based on the their top three scores.