Indiabeat Netherlands 2-0
New Delhi: The Indian team began their preparations for the FIH Men’s Hockey World league semifinals with a 2-0 win over hosts Netherlands on Tuesday. After a goalless half, the Indians scored their opening goal through vice-captain VR Raghunath in the 55th minute. In the 67th minute SV Sunil doubled the lead, which the side maintained till the end. India will play their next match against the hosts on Thursday. The third round (semifinals) of the Hockey World league will be held in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and this tour will help the side understand the conditions there. The event will be held from June 13-23.
Sania advance in Madrid Open
Madrid: Sania Mirza and Bethanie Mattek-Sands overcame a fighting Daniela Hantuchova and Anabel Medina Garrigues in a three-set battle to progress to the pre-quarterfinals of the WTA Madrid Open, here. The fifth seed Indo-American pair had to work hard for a 7-6(3) 4-6 10-4 win over the Slovakian-Spanish combo in one hour and 46 minutes in the opening round of the euro 4,033,254 clay court tournament. They next face winner of the other first round contest between Garbine Muguruza/Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor and lucie Safarova/Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Churchill win I-league title
Vasco: Churchill Brothers comfortably won their second I-league football title on Tuesday with a match to spare by playing out a 1-1 draw with Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan. With 52 points from 25 games, Churchill have ensured that they will walk home with a cool prize money Rs 7 million. Churchill, who needed a draw to overcome Pune FC challenge for the title given their better head-to-head record, got a rude shock when C S Sabeeth of Bagan scored from a solo effort in the 26th minute. But India captain Sunil Chhetri restored parity in the second half to ensure that the supporters who gathered at the Tilak Maidan were able to start celebrations. Bagan who made Churchill Brothers to work had to earn a point now have 26 points from 25 matches and have done really well to save releagtions after being docked all points due to crowd trouble during a December derby.
Medeira robbed in Malaysia
Margao: Former India international and national team’s assistant coach Savio Medeira has been robbed of all his belongings including passport in a Kuala lumpur hotel, informed family sources. The incident took place yesterday, when Medeira, who is currently holidaying in Malaysian capital, came to his room only to find that his passport, foreign exchange and other documents were missing. He later lodged a complaint with a local police station and then made a call to the All India Football Federation, who in turn contacted the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) headquarter in Kuala lumpur. Medeira, now has asked his travel agent in Goa to make the necessary arrangements to fly him to Goa and is expected to reach here on May 9.
East Bengal face United Sikkim
Kolkata: Their I-league campaign in disarray, East Bengal will look to return to winning ways, snapping their streak of five draws when they face bottom-placed United Sikkim FC in a penultimate round fixture here on Wednesday. East Bengal’s title hopes are over as they have slipped to third place (44 points/ 24 matches) behind Pune FC (49/25) and Churchill Brothers (51/24). They will look to revive their I-league campaign that will give them an outside hope of finishing runners-up. For this to happen, East Bengal will have to win against the Sikkim outfit who are almost certain to be relegated and then garner maximum points against Shillong lajong.
course Record at Tata golf
Ahmedabad: Bangalore-based Syed Saqib Ahmed shattered the course record with a scintillating round of 7-under par at the Jack Nicklaus Kalhaar Blues and Greens Golf Club here on Tuesday, which also saw two hole in ones by Chennai’s Tarak Swamy and Shakti Singh of Delhi on the 16th. In the sweltering heat of 43 degrees celsius, Syed Saqib Ahmed birdied 10 holes on his way to the top of the leaderboard. Thailand-based Samarth Dwivedi, fresh from a second place finish last week, was tied second three strokes behind alongside amateur tour veteran Simarjeet Singh. Five other players finished under par alongside the leaders as Manu Gandas with a 69 was placed fourth and Udayan Mane, Viraj Madappa and babloo Yadav were all tied for the fifth place and the winner of the last leg Karan Taunk being in the eight position with a 71.
PNS/Agencies