Indain golfers falter at Ballantine’s
Incheon: Shiv Kapur and SSP Chowrasia were placed at tied 34th on a low key day for the Indians in the first round of the $ 2.8 million Ballantine’s Championship here on Thursday.
Both shot one-under 71 each. Kieran Pratt of Australia carded a flawless five-under par 67 to take a share of the first round clubhouse lead as poor visibility and rain in the morning led to play being suspended. With over two hours of play lost, all 78 players from the afternoon session will have to return at 7.30am tomorrow morning to resume their first round. Gaganjeet Bhullar and Jyoti Randhawa were both at even par, though Randhawa still had six holes to play. Jeev Milkha Singh (73) was tied 76th, while Anirban lahiri was one-over with five holes to play, but C Muniyappa shot 74. Himmat Rai struggled to a 77, while Digvijay was also five-over through 10 holes.
Sporting qualify for I-league 1st division
Bangalore: Mohammedan Sporting qualified for next edition of I-league first division after a goal-less draw with Bhawanipore FC in their penultimate league match of the final phase of 2nd Division league here on Thursday. After playing nine matches and with 18 points in their kitty, Mohammedan are on top of the table. They last played in I-league first division in 2008/09 season. Bhawanipore — 14 points from nine matches — stay third behind Rangdajied United who are on 16 points. Bhawanipore will now have to win their match against Mumbai Tigers and hope that Mohammedan beat Rangdajied. A draw for the Meghalaya side will mean that the side who finish with superior goal difference goes through, as the two cannot be separated on head-to-head count.
Anand draws again
Paris: Viswanathan Anand played out his third consequtive draw, signing peace with joint-leader Maxime Vachier-lagraev of France in the fourth round of Alekhine memorial chess tournament in progress here. It turned out to be an easy affair for Anand as he went for an age-old variation in the Semi Slav defense and drew without sweating much. The day yet again provided just one decisive game and the beneficiary was levon Aronian of Armenia who capitalized on a positional error by Russian Peter Svidler. With five rounds still to go, Anand remains on joint eighth spot along with Vituigov while Svidler slipped to the bottom of the standings with one point in his bag.
PCI suspends treasurer
New Delhi: Paralympic Committee of India’s treasurer Gursharan Singh has been suspended for alleged misappropriation of government funds pending inquiry, the body said on Thursday. PCI President Sultan Ahmed said that a three-member inquiry committee has been constituted to probe the alleged misappropriation of government funds by Gursharan. The members of the inquiry committee would be M N Narasimhan, Additional Commissioner (Retd) Commercial Tax, Rajput, a chartered accountant and B N Anand, a High Court advocate.
‘Oz will prove Ashes critics wrong’
Sydney: Michael Clarke says Australia will prove critics wrong and win the Ashes in England despite his team being panned as the "worst Ashes squad". Clarke has backed his 16-man party named on Wednesday to do the job in five Tests against England, starting at Nottingham's Trent Bridge ground on July 10. Sections of the British press have slammed Clarke's touring party with The Daily Mail declaring:" Aussies name worst Ashes squad in memory", adding gloatingly: "Is that it, AustraliaIJ Is that all you have gotIJ" Clarke said the reaction does not surprise him following Australia's 4-0 Test series rout in India in March. PNS/Agencies