East Bengalin Afc cup pre-quarters
Kolkata: East Bengal became the first Indian team to qualify for the AFC Cup knockout round with an unbeaten record, thrashing Vietnam outfit Sai Gon Xuan Thanh 4-1 in their concluding group H league at the Vivekananda Yubabharati Krirangan here on Tuesday. The Federation Cup champions finished with 14 points to top group H as they earned the right to host the prequarterfinal, which will be against the group F runners-up. The Vietnamese Cup winners, who needed a draw to qualify, were thus eliminated as Malaysia's Selangor advanced to the last 16 with a 3-2 win over Tampines Rovers.
Afridi, Umar dropped from Pak squad
Karachi: Flamboyant all-rounder Shahid Afridi and batsman Umar Akmal were the prominent names to be axed from the 15-member Pakistan cricket squad announced for the forthcoming ICC Champions Trophy in England. Chief selector Iqbal Qasim announced the squad on Monday in lahore after lengthy deliberations although the selectors had finalised it last week and submitted it to the board Chairman for approval. At the end of the day, it transpired that the selectors made two changes to their submitted squad replacing injured middle-order batsman Haris Sohail with Umar Amin and preferring to pick left-arm pacer Wahab Riaz over Aizaz Cheema. The rest of the squad remained the same and Qasim said that Afridi was dropped because of his recent poor bowling form.
verdict on Modi likely by May end
New Delhi: The three-member Disciplinary Committee, probing alleged irregularities against former IPl Commissioner lalit Modi, is likely to give its recommendations to the BCCI by the end of May. The three-member Committee in its meeting held here on Monday has recorded versions of lawyers representing Modi and the BCCI. “The panel has heard all the parties. It has given 15 days time to Modi to give his final reply,” a source said.
Mixed day for India at Malaysia GP
New Delhi: It was a mixed day for the Indian shuttlers at the Malaysia Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament as R M V Gurusaidutt, K Srikanth and Sameer Verma won their respective first round matches while the others crashed out of the men’s singles event in Kuala lumpur on Tuesday. H S Prannoy had got a walkover in the opening round after Tommy Sugiarto withdrew from the competition. Prannoy will face local lad Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin on Wednesday. Top seed P V Sindhu will open her women’s singles campaign on Wednesday against Chen Jiayuan of Singapore.
Sharath top seeded Indian
New Delhi: Commonwealth Games gold medallist Sharath Kamal will be the top seeded Indian paddler competing in the upcoming Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships here even as defending champion Gao Ning of Singapore will not take part in the event. India's best bet for a medal, Sharath will be joined by reigning national champion Soumyajit Ghosh, besides 10 other players in different categories.PNS/Agencies