Mangal wins first gold for India
New Delhi: Promising young grappler Mangal Kadyan claimed India’s first gold medal in the Asian Junior Wrestling Championship in Phuket, Thailand here on Saturday. India also won two silver and a bronze today in other weight categories. Mangal thrashed Mostafa Yaghoubizeleti of Iran 8-0 in the final of the 50kg freestyle category, while in the 120kg freestyle, Surjeet won bronze by flooring China’s Xinmen Du 10-2 at the Saphan Hin Indoor Sports Complex. Mamta Rani (48kg) and Manisha Mahadev Divekar (72kg) had to settle for silver each after losing in the finals of their respective weight categories of the female division.
Anand opens account with a draw
Moscow: World champion Viswanathan Anand opened his account with a draw against lowest-ranked Dmitry Andreikin of Russia in the second round of Tal Memorial Chess tournament here. After suffering a shock defeat at the hands of Italian Fabiano Caruana, Anand was back as a perfect defender against Andreikin who recently won the Russian championship. World number one Magnus Carlsen of Norway surged ahead in one of the strongest tournament ever after signing peace with Sergey Karjanik of Russia along with Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan and Boris Gelfand of Israel.
Englandaccused of ball-tampering
Cardiff: England have found themselves at the centre of a tampering row after former captain Bob Willis accused them of scratching the ball. The alleged incident took place during England’s seven-wicket Champions Trophy defeat by Sri lanka at The Oval when Pakistani umpire Aleem Dar and his New Zealand on-field colleague Billy Bowdenordered one of the balls in use to be changed while the lankans were batting. “let’s not beat about the bush — Aleem Dar is on England’s case,” Willis told Sun tabloid. “He knows that one individual is scratching the ball for England — who I am not going to name — and that’s why the ball was changed,” insisted Willis. “Have you ever heard about the batting side or the umpire complaining about the shape of the ballIJ” added Willis.
Indiafinish 7th in Team Squash
New Delhi: India finished seventh in the Men’s World Team Squash Championship after posting a 2-0 win over Malaysia in the 7th-8th position match in Mulhouse, France. Mahesh Mangaonkar blanked Muhd Asyraf Azan 3-0 while Saurav Ghosal fought back after being two sets down to get the better of Ong Beng Hee 3-2. Mangaonkar won his match 14/12, 11/4, 11/7 while Ghosal prevailed over his opponent 3-2 (6-11, 7/11, 12/10, 11/7, 11/9. Earlier, India lost to Germany in the 5th-8th place play-off with Ghosal and Harinder Pal Sandhu putting up a decent fight in matches that went the full distance.
Indiawin silver in Archery WC
Kolkata: Rajat Chouhan and Manjudha Soy lost out by one point in the compound mixed team final to earn India a solitary silver medal in the Archery World Cup Stage II at Antalya, Turkey on Saturday. According to information received here, the unheralded Indian duo had a slender 112-111 lead against the Italian world champions Sergio Pagni and Marcella Toniolli at the end of third set. But the inexperienced Indians faltered by a couple of millimetres in the final arrow to go down 149-150 in a thrilling contest.
Bhupathi-Bopanna enter semis
london: Indian pair of Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna made the semi-finals of the men’s doubles in Aegon Championships after posting a hard-fought victory over British combo of Colin Fleming and Jonathan Marray here. The third seeded Indian duo took an hour and 32 minutes to edge out their fifth seeded opponents 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 10-4.
lahiri rises to fourth
Samui (Thailand): Anirban lahiri gave himself a chance to bag his first Asian Tour outside India with an electric finish that saw him card three birdies in the last four holes on the third day of the USD 312,000 Queen’s Cup here on Saturday. lahiri carded a second straight four-under 67 to move to eight-under 205 and in fourth place. lahiri is three shots behind the leader, Bangladesh’s Siddikur (67), who was at 11-under.
Jeevan bags title
Coimbatore: Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan won the men’s singles title in the third and final leg of lMW-ITF Future tournament after Vijayant Malik retired hurt here on Saturday. Jeevan had won the first set 6-2 and was leading 5-1 in the second when Vijayant sprained his ankle and retired from the match. Jeevan was declared the winner. PNS/Agencies