Kashyap gets best ranking
New Delhi: london Olympics quarter-finalist Parupalli Kashyap jumped a place to achieve his career-best world ranking of 7 in the latest list issued by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Thursday. The Hyderabadi shuttler has overtaken Chinese Chen Jin, to be in the seventh position in the men’s singles rankings. Mumbai’s Ajay Jayaram has retained his 30th place in the list. Meanwhile, Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal has maintained her No. 2 position in the women’s singles rankings behind Olympic champion li Xeurui of China. Rising India shuttler P V Sindhu has also held on to her 16th place.
Jayaram, Bhat in 3rd round
Auckland: Ajay Jayaram and Arvind Bhat were the only bright spots on an otherwise disappointing day for the Indian shuttlers at the New Zealand Badminton Open on Thursday. While Jayaram beat Marius Myhre of Norway 24-22 21-5, Bhat, seeded 13th, outplayed compatriot Kirtesh Dhindhwal 21-16 21-12 to enter the third round of the men’s singles event. But all other Indians -- Anand Pawar, R M V Gurusaidutt, Chetan Anand -- lost their respective men’s singles second round matches to crash out of the tournament. In the women’s singles also, the lone Indian representative, Sarada Jasti went down fighting 21-18 17-21 17-21 to a qualifier, Vicki Copeland in the opening round.
Bagan fans accuseD of racisM
Kolkata: I-league match in Kalyani in Nadia district has yet again made news for the wrong reasons as Mumbai FC forward Yusif Yakubu accused Mohun Bagan fans of shouting racial abuses and “monkey” chants. The incident happened when Mohun Bagan bounced back in the match to level 2-2 before wrapping it up 3-2 yesterday as the fans allegedly hurled “racial abuses” at the Ghanian. “It’s beyond me why the fans were abusing me. There were all kinds of slangs and abusive language, some of which I can’t even mention. This is racism,” Yakubu said. Asked whether he would lodge an official complaint, Yakubu said: “Why should IIJ It won’t be of any help. Even if Mohun Bagan are penalised, they will still somehow find a way out.” I-league CEO Sunando Dhar termed it surprising and said they would have to wait for an official complaint.
Indiaslip in FIFA rankings
New Delhi: After last month’s surprise big jump, Indian football team lost six places to occupy 149th at the latest FIFA rankings released on Thursday. The drop in rankings was expected as India had not played any international match in the period under calculation. They had jumped 24 places last month to occupy 143rd. India also lost three places in the rankings among Asian countries and they are now at the 25th spot. Japan are the highest-ranked Asian country at 29th spot followed by South Korea at 42nd and Australia at 46th. In overall rankings, world champions Spain were leading the chart followed by Germany, Argentina, Croatia, Portugal, Colombia, England, Italy, the Netherlands and Ecuador in the top 10 in that order.
Arrows face United SC
Kolkata: Pailan Arrows will look to maintain their fine run when they face United SC in 24th round I-league fixture here on Friday. “The spirit of the team is high after beating a big side like Dempo,” Arrows coach, Arthur Papas saidBut it would be interesting to see how the youthful side tackles the opposition boasting a star-studded foreign line-up in Ranty Martins and Bello Rasaq. Arrows are currently placed 10th with 23 points from 22 matches. United are currently placed fourth with 35 points from 23 matches.
Patel to race for ms racing
New Delhi: Young Indian racer Aditya Patel will compete in the ADAC GT Masters 2013 in Europe for reigning champions team MS RACING. The ADAC GT Masters is a PRO-AM Championship in which a professional driver shares a car with am amateur driver. Drivers run in pairs, with each race requiring the team to make a pit stop and swap drivers. Aditya will drive Audi R8 lMS ultra and will be paired with last year's MS RACING driver Daniel Dobitsch. PNS/Agencies