UCI recognises Tour de India
New Delhi: The Tour de India 2013, the world’s biggest cycling event, has been listed in the international race calendar of the UCI and the second edition of the multi-city event will witness the participation of more than 150 foreign and national cyclists. The races are scheduled to take place on December 15th, 17th and 22nd in Mumbai, Jaipur and Delhi, respectively. The Delhi chapter of the largest international cycling event will take at the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) track in Greater Noida. The event will have six Indian teams - India ‘A’, ‘B’, Railways, Services and two cycling clubs. The Cycling Federation of India (CFI) will select the six teams for Tour de India after the conclusion of their national camp here in the Capital. “Tour de India is a 1.2 level event of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the sport’s world governing body, which has listed the event for the first time in their international calendar. The total prize money for the second edition is euro 19,000 and India will be represented by six teams in the prestigious event,” CFI secretary general Onkar Singh said.
Ramkumar wins maiden ITF title
Raipur: Ramkumar Ramnathan clinched his maiden ITF singles title as he recorded a come-from-behind victory over Duck Hee lee in the summit clash of the USD 10,000 Futures tournament, here on Saturday. The 19-year-old Chennai lad overcame the unseeded Korean 3-6 7-6(6) 6-4 in the fiercely-fought final at VIPS Club. It was Ramkumar’s third final of the career and second of the season. He had lost to Canadian Steven Diez in Spain in June this year. last year in December he lost to compatriot Sanam Singh in the Dharwad. With his much improved show, Ramkumar has staked his claim for a wild card entry into Chennai Open, country’s only ATP 250 event, starting next month.
lifters finish with 117 medals
New Delhi: Indian weightlifters ended their Commonwealth Youth, Junior & Senior Championships in style, bagging six medals on Saturday to take their overall tally to a staggering 117, including 57 gold, on the final day of the event in Penang, Malaysia. Besides 57 gold, Indian lifters finished with 39 silver and 21 bronze. The biggest contributors to the tally were the youth boys, who notched up 24 medals, including 16 gold and eight silver. The youth girls were not too far behind with 21 medals, inclusive of a dozen gold. The junior men and women’s teams also bagged 21 medals each, while senior men won 12 and senior women accounted for a total of 18 medals. Youth boys and girls, Junior men and women, and senior men — all pocketed the Winners Team Trophy — while the Senior women had to be satisfied with the runners-up team title.
Chikkarangappa edges out Rashid
Mumbai: Rookie Chikkarangappa S of Bangalore upstaged pre-tournament favourite Rashid Khan of Delhi in a playoff to bag his maiden professional title at the Crompton Greaves Open 2013 at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club here on Saturday. It turned out to be a day of twists and turns. Rashid Khan (64-64-66-70) maintained his overnight three-shot lead till the eighth hole as both he and Chikka (64-65-68-67) made two birdies and a bogey each on the first eight holes. The tide turned over the next five holes. Rashid dropped bogeys on the ninth, 10th and 13th as a result of a few missed putts and a poor tee shot, while Chikka sank a 17-feet birdie putt on the 12th. Chikka, thus went ahead by one shot on the 13th.
Sindhu in final of Macau Open GP
Macau: India’s top seed shuttler P V Sindhu cruised into the women’s singles final of the USD 120,000 Macau Open Grand Prix Gold at the Macau Forum here on Saturday. The world No.11 overcame a much lower ranked Qin Jinjing of China 21-13, 18-21, 21-19 in their first-ever encounter. Sindhu took an hour and eight minutes to win the match and will take on world No. 30 and seventh seed li Michelle of Canada in the title clash tomorrow. Sindhu, who won the Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold in May, has a great chance to bag another Tier-III title before the season ends next month. Sindhu had more number of smashes and net winners over the three games played.
Atletico madrid beat Elche 2-0
Barcelona: Diego Costa scored his 15th goal of the Spanish league season to seal Atletico Madrid’s 2-0 win at Elche on Saturday, provisionally lifting Diego Simeone’s side level with Barcelona at the top of the table. Diego Costa fired in Adrian lopez’s chipped throughball to secure the three points in the 74th after Jorge “Koke” Resurreccion had opened the scoring in the 63rd. Atletico broke through seconds after Raul Garcia replaced David Villa. Koke pounced on a rebound from Garcia’s shot that Manuel Herrera had saved but failed to clear, leaving the Elche goalkeeper strewn on the turf with defender Alberto Botia and Diego Costa after they collided. Diego Costa then ran onto lopez’s delicately placed lob to fire by Herrera from the right side of the area and secure the three points. Atletico has a record of 17 wins, 4 draws and one loss in all competitions this season.