Archers suspended for ‘misconduct’
Pune: A month after archer Pratima Boro’s suicide, the national camp at the Army Sports Institute here was rocked by yet another controversy when two recurve archers were suspended after being caught in a compromising position. According to a camper, Pawan Xalxo and Gunjan Kumari were found in a compromising position on inside the hostel on June 1 afternoon and it was immediately reported to the Army. “They were immediately given marching orders as per the rules of the Army. They were close to each other but on Saturday, they crossed their limits. We all are ashamed of them,” the source added. Archery Association of India assistant secretary Gunjan Abrol said: “They have been given seven day’s notice to explain about this incident. Both have been given letters and they are not eligible to take part in any tournament at any level till the inquiry is complete.” According to reports, Pawan and Gunjan incidentally were not given extension at the Tata Academy and the former had earned a bad reputation last year when he had assaulted a girl with an arrow. Tata Steel sports department refused to comment on the development saying, “They no longer belong to our academy.”
A bolt for Usain: 100th of a second slow
Rome: After five years of dominating sprinting, Usain Bolt is showing signs of slowing down. The Jamaican lost by one-hundredth of a second on Thursday to American sprinter Justin Gatlin, who timed 9.94 seconds in the 100 meters at the Golden Gala meet. It was Bolt’s first significant international loss since his false-start disqualification at the 2011 world Championships in South Korea. B. “For me it is just going through the season,” said Bolt. “Put things together for the world championships. The season is still very early,” he said, not blaming his hamstring this time. “During the race I didn’t feel it all,” he said. “Afterwards it was sore but that’s expected. But during the race it was fine.” Gatlin, who has won all five of his 100-meter races this year and had been doing some pre-race trash talking, was restrained in his celebration, just clapping his hands rapidly.
K Srikanth reaches semis, Saina crashes out
Bangkok: Defending champion Saina Nehwal’s hopes of retaining her Thailand Grand Prix Gold title went up in smoke as she suffered a three-game defeat to Singapore’s Juan Gu, while K Srikanth entered the semifinals of the men’s singles event, here on Friday. 21-year-old Srikanth overcame South Korea’s Wan Ho Son in straight games 21-17, 21-18. Saina, ranked number two in the world, lost 21-13 12-21 18-21 to eighth seed Juan in a 53-minute match. Meanwhile, H S Prannoy was sent packing by Indonesia’s Wisnu Yuli Prasetyo 21-12 21-19 in the other quaterfinal match of men’s event.
Maheswary qualifies for World C’ships
Chennai: National record holder triple jumper Renjith Maheswary on Fridaybecame the second Indian athlete to qualify for this year’s World Championship in Moscow as he clinched a gold on the final day the National Inter-State Athletics Championships. Maheswary, representing the home state, crossed the World Championships B standard of 16.85m in his third attempt at the Nehru Stadium here to win the event with an effort of 16.98m, which is also a new meet record.
Karnataka in Qf of senior hockey Nationals
Pune: Karnataka defeated Services Sports Control Board 4-2 in a Pool C match to complete the quarter-final line-up of the third Hockey India Senior Men National Championship, here on Friday. Karnataka scored through S K Uthappa, Mohan Muthanna, M G Poonacha and M B Aiyappa while Johnny Jasrotia and Ignace Tirkey scored for SSCB. In the quarter-finals slated for Saturday, Air India will take on Railways, Haryana will face Chandigarh, Punjab will play Jharkhand and Karnataka will be up against Manipur. Earlier in the day, Sports Authority of India defeated Goa 22-1 in Pool C encounter.
Second edition of HIl from Jan 23
New Delhi: The second edition of the Hockey India league (HIl) will be played from January 23 to February 23 next year. A new team will be added to make it a six franchise based tournament, Hockey India announced on Friday. PNS/Agencies