Sutirtha wins Slovak Open
New Delhi: Promising paddler Sutirtha Mukherjee beat compatriot Manika Batra to win the girls’ singles title at the Slovak Junior Open in Senec, Slovakia as India rounded off its best-ever show in an international event by bagging four gold and two silver medals. For India, a gold each came in the junior doubles event (boys and girls) on the final day of the competition yesterday, besides two medals (gold and silver) in the girls’ singles. Manika, who was a finalist in the singles of the Commonwealth Championships here last month, comfortably won the first game 11-3. But 15-year-old Sutirtha made a strong comeback to get the better off Manika 3-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-8, 11-9 and clinch the singles’ crown.
Sagar holds Solodovnichenko
Albena: Hunting for an International Master norm, Sagar Shah played a solid game to hold Grandmaster Yuri Solodovnichenko of Ukraine while former Junior World champion Abhijeet Gupta recovered to score his first victory in the second round of Grand Europe Albena chess tournament here. After an eventful draw in the first round Gupta made some recovery of sorts at the expense of Bulgarian veteran Metodi Stoinev and inched himself up to 1.5 points from his two games. It turned out to be another good day for three Indian Grandmasters-in-waiting as they all scored needful victories over lower ranked opponents.
Gymnasts to get foreign coach
New Delhi: The quest for a foreign coach for Indian gymnastics has finally made some headway with two candidates submitting their applications for the top post to the Sports Authority of India (SAI). “The process has already started. We have received two applications for the coaching job. We are evaluating their resumes. At this point, I can’t tell you the names but country’s gymnasts will soon have a foreign coach,” SAI DG Jiji Thomson said.
Balaji wins in ITF Men’s Futures
Chennai: Top seed Sriram Balaji dropped a set before prevailing over young Neeraj Elangovan in the main draw of the BR Adityan GNC ITF Men’s Futures (second leg) Tennis Championships which begin at the Gandhinagar Club here. Sriram demolished Neeraj in the first set but in second set the latter found his groove and served and stroked powerfully to bounce back at 6-3. However, Sriram got back his bearing once again to win the third set and the match. In another tie, Karunuday Singh, seeded 8, had to use his experience to fend off some resistance from the young talented left hander P Saradhi Adavelly.
A-licence course ends
New Delhi: The A-licence Course conducted by AIFF ended at Navi Mumbai. The course with 24 coaches ended with a series of Practical Exams and a discussion about the role of A-license coaches in Indian football. The course was divided over two modules and covered fitness development, video analysis, media management and other technical matters. PNS/Agencies