One gold, three silvers for india
New Delhi: Indian junior cyclists made a sensational start to their 2013 Track Asia Cycling championship in Thailand by winning one gold and three silvers on the opening day on Friday. Teen sensation from Anandaman and Nicobar, Deborah, bagged the gold medal in the Time Trial event while the North East pride, Manorama Devi bagged silver medals in Scratch and Point races and Dilawar Singh from Haryana added the third silver in Point race for India. The Indian contingent has been taking big strides in Asian cycling ever since the last edition of the Asian championship in New Delhi in March, where India won two silver and two bronze for the first time ever. The performance of the Indian contingent had even attracted the Korean Cycling Federation, who had invited both Deobrah and Manorama Devi to train with their national squad before this championship.
Hafeez dropped from test team
Islamabad: Pakistan has dropped out-of-form opening batsman Mohammad Hafeez for this month's two-test series against South Africa in the United Arab Emirates. The axing of Hafeez was expected after he scored only 102 runs in the last five test matches this year, including three against South Africa and two against lowly-ranked Zimbabwe. South Africa is the team against which Hafeez has always struggled, scoring only one half century and a total of 307 runs in 18 innings. The selectors have named 12 players for the test series while three more will be added after Pakistan 'A' plays a three-day warmup match against the Proteas next week at Sharjah. Abu Dhabi will host the first test from Oct. 14-18 while the second test will be played at Dubai from Oct. 23-27.
Ghosal in semis as Pallikal loses
Montreal: Third seed Saurav Ghosal continued his fine run of form when the Indian reached the semi-final of the Financiere Banque Nationale Montreal Open squash tournament with an emphatic 3-1 win over Egypt's Omar Abdel Azaiz, here on Saturday. Ghosal, the highest-ranked Indian of all-time who celebrated a best-ever world number 17 this month, defeated his 30-year-old Egyptian opponent in less than an hour, winning 11-3, 11-4, 2-11, 11-4. "Happy to win my match 3-1 today," Ghosal tweeted after the match. "Aziz played some good stuff but thankfully my squash was better than on Friday!" wrote the 27-year-old from Kolkata later.
Qatar beat India 2-0 in AFC U-19
Doha: India began their AFC U-19 Championship qualifying campaign on a disappointing note as they lost 0-2 in their opening group match against Qatar here. The Indians held their own against the Qataris till the hour mark but conceded two goals thereafter to lose the match at the Al Arabi Stadium last night. Akram Hassan scored from the spot in the 60th minute after the hosts enjoyed a good spell of fifteen minutes at the beginning of the second half. Substitute Abdullah made it 2-0 in the 89th minute.
India U-19 win series, beat proteas
Visakhapatnam: The Indian Under-19 cricket team produced a fantastic all-round performance to decimate South Africa U-19 by 201 runs in the final and lift the Quadrangular Series trophy here on Saturday. Put in to bat, India made 267 for six in their 50 overs before bundling out the South Africans for 66 in 28.1 overs. Mumbai wonderkid Sarfaraz Khan starred for the hosts with an unbeaten 67 and a couple of wickets to his credit. It was a near-perfect performance by the Indians, who suffered just one loss during the tournament, also featuring Australia and Zimbabwe. After being sent in to bat, India did not make the best of starts with opener Ankush Bains (1) departing when the team had just three runs on the board. But other opener Akhil Herwadkar (25) and skipper Vijay Zol (71), steadied the ship with a 51-run second wicket stand. The partnership ended when Herwadkar was dismissed by Justin Dill in the 15th over, caught by Yaseen Valli. Herwadkar's 46-ball stay featured a four and a six.
Judoka Kalpana wins bronze
New Delhi: Kalpana Devi has won India's first IJF Grand Prix medal when she grabbed a bronze at the Judo Tournament in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Competing in 52kg weight category, Kalpana defeated Zarifa Sultonova of Uzbekistan but lost to Gili Cohen of Israel. However, Kalpana jumped back to medal contention through repechage round, where she got the better of Brazilian Raquel Silva. Kalpana, who is with Indo-Tibetan Border Police, had also won a bronze medal in the Women's World Cup Judo Championships held in September 2010 in Uzbekistan. India have sent an eight-member team in the IJF Grand Prix Judo Championships, which will conclude on Monday. The judo players will remain in Tashkent for a one-month training.
Mumbai down Churchill Brothers
Mapusa (Goa): Churchill Brothers paid dearly for a missed penalty in the first half as Mumbai FC struck twice in the second half to score their first win in the third round of the Airtel I-league here on Saturday. After a barren first half, Mumbai, who did well to defend their citadel in the second half, scored through Essien Orok (46th) and Climax lawerence (87th). The win took Mumbai FC to five points from three matches, while Churchill Brothers, who suffered their second defeat, have one point from three matches.
15th Raid-de-Himalaya flagged off
Shimla: The Maruti Suzuki Raid-de-Himalaya, during which participants will traverse a distance of 1800 km over a span of six days, was ceremonially flagged off amid much fervor here on Saturday. The annual event was flagged off by T Hashimoto, Executive Director (Marketing & Sales), Maruti Suzuki India limited. Team Mahindra, including National Rally Championship winner Sunny Sidhu, pulled out of the event at the last minute, causing a major embarrassment to local organisers.
Mizoram in U-14 Subroto semis
New Delhi: Government Chawmgfianga Middle School, Mizoram edged out Govt Model school, Chandigarh 1-0 to enter the U-14 boys' semifinals of the 54th Subroto Cup here on Saturday. lalawmsanga (44th min) scored the winner for Mizoram. The winners will play NCC (North Eastern Region) in the semifinals. Although Mizoram schools have won the title in the past, this is the first time that Chawmfianga School have gone to the last four stage. The U-14 boys' quarterfinal was an exciting encounter between the tall, powerful players of Chandigarh and the speedy boys from Mizoram. The forward line which has ripped apart rival defences in all their previous matches, Mizoram dominated proceedings. PNS/Agencies