East Bengal lose 2-4 in afc semis
Kuwait City: A spirited fightback in the second half was not enough for East Bengal as the Indian club went down 2-4 to defending champions Kuwait SC in the first leg semifinal of the AFC Cup football tournament here. For Kuwait SC, Issam Jemaa struck twice in the 18th and 33rd minutes, while Waleed Ali Jumah and Chedi Hammami scored a goal each in the 31st and 48th minutes respectively last night. Uga Okpara and lalrindika Ralte scored for East Bengal in the 66th and 87th minutes respectively at the Kuwait SC Stadium. East Bengal were staring at an embarrassing defeat when Hammami struck just two minutes into the second half to make it 4-0 for the three-time winning hosts. The visitors, however, sprung back to life after coach Marcos Falopa introduced lalrindika Ralte and Cavin lobo in the midfield.
Queen's Baton Relay uncertain
New Delhi: Uncertainty loomed large over Delhi hosting the Queen's Baton Relay of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland as the Indian Olympic Association has sought the deferment of the event from October 12-13 to another date on the ground of lack of security. The Queen's Baton Relay, to be launched on October 9 at Buckingham Palace, london, where Her Majesty The Queen Elizabeth II will place Her message to the Commonwealth into the baton, was to be held here on October 12 and 13 as Delhi was to be the first stop for the Baton as the host of the previous Games. But fearing that the security for the QBR will not be enough due to Durga Puja festivals, the IOA acting chief Vijay Kumar Malhotra has written to 2014 Glasgow organisers to defer the event to a later date. But the Glasgow authorities are yet to reply on Malhotra's letter. "October 13 is Vijaya Dashmi and so it will difficult to make large scale security arrangements on October 12 and 13 for the Queen's Baton Relay. Most of the security apparatus will be deployed for the Durga Puja festivals," Malhotra said.
Deepika in Rd of 32, Ind eye bronze
New Delhi: Ace Indian archer Deepika Kumari won her first two recurve individual elimination round contests to advance to the Round of 32 while the compound mixed team eyes for bronze after losing in the semi-finals in the World Championships at Belek in Turkey on Wednesday. The compound mixed team of Abhishek Verma and Jyothi Surekha Vennam produced an impressive performance to beat higher-ranked teams Denmark and Korea before losing to Russia in the semi-finals. They now play United States for the bronze medal play-off on Saturday. The Indian duo, who qualified at 11th, first beat Denmark (who qualified sixth) 150-147 and then accounted for top team Korea — who was third in the qualification — by a good margin of 153-144. But the Indians lost narrowly (147-150) to Russia in the semi-finals on Tuesday night.
prize money increase in aus open
Melbourne: Australian Open organizers said Wednesday that the tournament will increase its prize money by AU$3 million ($2.8 million) next year to bring overall player compensation to AU$33 million ($31 million). In keeping with player demands to see a larger slice of Grand Slam revenues, all four of the sport's most prestigious tennis tournaments have greatly increased their prize money in the past two years. Wimbledon now offers about 22.6 million pounds ($36.5 million), while the U.S. Open increased its purse to $34.3 million and the French Open went up to 22 million euros ($29.7 million). The Australian Open increase comes after organizers already raised total prize money by AU$4 million ($3.7 million) for the 2013 tournament, the largest annual jump in prize money in the tournament's history.
David Nalbandian retires
Buenos Aires: David Nalbandian, the 2002 Wimbledon finalist who caused an uproar a decade later by injuring a line judge at another tournament, retired from professional tennis Tuesday because of a shoulder injury. The 31-year-old Argentine player described it as a "difficult day," but told a news conference that he was "super grateful" to his sport. Saying his shoulder did not "respond well" to treatment, Nalbandian concluded: "I cannot compete." Nalbandian spent 13 years on the ATP tour, reaching No. 3 in the rankings in 2006 and spending five consecutive years in the top 10. He reached at least the semifinals at all four Grand Slam tournaments, losing to lleyton Hewitt of Australia in the 2002 final at Wimbledon.
Trociki gets date to appeal ban
lausanne: Serbian tennis player Victor Troicki will appear at sport'shighest court next week to challenge his 18-month ban for skipping a doping test. Troicki said Tuesday he is "confident" ahead of his appeal hearing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Oct. 9. "I will attend in person for sure. I am fighting for the truth and I will do it as hard as I can," the 2010 Davis Cup winner said in an interview supplied by his management team.
Assam shock Goa to enter semis
New Delhi: Betkuchi High School, Assam, upset strong contenders Infant Jesus School, Goa 1-0 in a fiercely contested clash to enter the semifinals of the 54th Subroto Cup here on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Government Chawngfianga Middle School, Mizoram booked their spots in the quarterfinals with a 11-0 thrashing of Coast Guard Public School, Daman 11-0.