Ex-boxing champ Norton no more
los Angeles: Former boxing champion Ken Norton, considered one of the greatest heavyweights of his era, died Wednesday at an Arizona care facility, the lA Times reported. He was 70. The fighter was best known for beating Muhammad Ali in 1973, breaking the Hall of Famer’s jaw in the process. Norton, who suffered a stroke last year, ended his brilliant career with a record of 42 wins, seven losses, one draw and 33 knockouts. He fought in the 1970s era of magnificent heavyweights — a group that also included Ali, George Foreman, Joe Frazier, leon Spinks and Jimmy Young. “They called us handsome. Muhammad they called pretty. But the fairest of them all Ken Norton,” Foreman wrote on his Twitter page Wednesday. “What a loss to all of us.” Other tributes also quickly poured in for Norton, who was once given the title of the “Father of the Year” by the los Angeles Times in 1977. “My heart has been heavy since hearing the news earlier today,” boxer larry Holmes wrote on Twitter. “He was a good man. #RIP #KenNorton.”
No Arjuna Award for Maheswary
New Delhi: The Sports Ministry on Thursday decided not to confer Renjith Maheswary with the prestigious Arjuna award as the triple jumper has been found to have used a ‘scheduled’ substance (ephedrine) back in 2008, putting an end to all speculations regarding his fate. After detailed investigations, the Ministry has come to a conclusion that Maheswary was found to have used ephedrine during the 46th National Athletic Championships in Kochi. The sample was collected on September 8, 2008 and given to the National Dope Testing laboratory on September 15, 2008. NDTl on October 3, 2008 analysed the A-sample of Maheswary and reported levels of ephedrine far above the expected levels, even when ephedrine is consumed for therapeutic purposes. Maheswary had not reported using ephedrine for medicinal purposes during the collection of the sample and was suspended by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) pending enquiry.
Grover defeats Gujrathi
Kocaeli: Grandmaster and former under-10 world champion Sahaj Grover came up with an inspired performance to beat compatriot Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi in the sixth round of the World Junior chess championship here. The victory with white pieces helped Grover to jump to joint second spot on five points out of a possible six. Yu Yangyi of China regained sole lead on 5.5 points defeating S P Sethuraman in a keenly contested game. Grover was in his elements in a Nimzo Indian defense game against Gujrathi. It was a complex middle game wherein Gujrathi was the first to err and Grover won a pawn to reach a better endgame.
Women wrestlers fail to impress
Budapest: last year’s bronze medallist Geeta Phogat crashed out in the first round of the 59kg category at the World Wrestling Championships and a similar fate awaited Pooja Dhanda (55kg) and Geetika Jakhar (63kg) in their opening bouts here on Thursday. Geeta, who won a bronze medal in the 55kg division last year, was tamed by Olympic bronze medallist Yuliya Ratkevich of Azerbaijan through a fall — pinning the upper back to the mat for a second to dent India’s hopes early on Day 4 of the event.
PNS/Agencies