dipika enters pre-quarters
Hull (England): India’s Dipika Pallikal defeated Denmark’s line Hansen in a marathon first round encounter to enter the pre-quarterfinals of the Allam British Open Squash Championships here. In what has been the longest match of the tournament so far, world number 15 Pallikal had to dug deep for 76 minutes to get the better of her Danish opponent 13-11 14-16 11-6 8-11 11-4 at Ponterfact, about fifty miles from here. The round of 16 matches will now be played in an outdoor glass court of the multi-purpose KC Stadium. Pallikal will face local favourite laura Massaro in her next round on Thursday.
India go down fighting
New Delhi: India went down fighting against Kazakhstan 2-3 in the China International Men’s Volleyball Tournament at luohe in China on Wednesday. India lost 12-25, 25-23, 26-24, 20-25, 7-15. India had defeated the host club team Henan Tianguan 25-19, 23-25, 25-22, 23-25, 15-11 on Tuesday. India play China on Thursday. Australia were to participate in the tournament as the fourth team but had pulled out at the last minute and were replaced by Henan Tianguan, a club in the Chinese volleyball league.
Myanmar outplay India 2-0
Ramallah: The Indian women’s football team failed to overturn a two-goal deficit as it went down 0-2 to Myanmar in its first group D encounter of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup (Qualifiers) here. Myanmar eves rode on their two first half goals from Naw Phaw and Khin Moe Wai in the 5th and 26th minute, respectively to beat India comfortably at the Faisal Al Husseini stadium here last night. Myanmar came close to scoring another goal in the 27th minute but Yee Yee Oo’s effort hit the woodwork.
Haryana eves register 2nd win
Bhopal: Skipper Navpreet scored four goals to help Haryana eves beat Hockey Maharashtra 11-1 and register their second consecutive win in the third Hockey India Sub-Junior Men & Women National Championship at the SAI Centre here, on Wednesday. In the other pool B match, Jharkhand thrashed Andhra Pradesh 15-2. Betan Dung Dung and Pramila Soreng scored four goals each for Jharkhand. In pool A, Odisha beat Karanataka 7-0. Odisha scored through Anjilina Minz (4th min), Rashmita Minz (5th, 14th), Manju lakra (7th), Ashim Kanchan Barla (30th), Elima Minz (33rd) and Asmita Barla (35th).
Bhowmick quits Churchill
Panaji: Churchill Brothers Technical Director Subhash Bhowmick, who was not happy with the club management interfering with the team’s affairs, has stepped down from his post. He finally sent his resignation letter to the club boss Churchill Alemao on Tuesday. It is learnt that Bhowmick, who guided Churchill Brothers successfully to win the I-league crown for the second time, had alleged differences with Alemao during the I-league matches. According to Bhowmick, Alemao interfered in the club affairs while making substitutions in the games, which led to his resignation. The veteran coach, who is among the nominees for the best coach award this year organised by the Football Players Association of India (FPAI), is likely to join East Bengal or Mohammedan Sporting.
Dortmund’s Goetze out of final
Dortmund: Borussia Dortmund midfielder Mario Goetze will miss Saturday’s Champions league final against Bayern Munich after failing to recover from a hamstring injury, leaving the team without one of its best players. Dortmund confirmed Wednesday that Goetze will not be fit in time to face his future club at Wembley Stadium in london. It would have been the 20-year-old Goetze’s last game for Dortmund before his 37-million euro switch to Bayern next season.
Jaisinghani shocks Nikshep
Mumbai: Sixteenth seed Raghav Jaisinghani pulled off a major surprise when he knocked out top seed and India number four B R Nikshep to enter the quarterfinals of the under-16 boys singles in the 7th Ramesh Desai All India ranking tennis tournament on Wednesday. Jaisinghani from Madhya Pradesh, who is ranked 24th in the country, showed plenty of grit and determination as he carved out a 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 victory. He will next meet sixth seed Indra Patwardhan of Mahrashtra, who defeated 9th seed Sanil Jagtiani of West Bengal 6-3, 6-1. PNS/Agencies