Swapna sets nat’l jr record
Bangalore: Bengal high jumper Swapna Barman stole the limelight as she created a national junior record on the second day of National Junior Athletics Championships here on Wednesday. Kerala's M N Nasimudheen attained World Junior Championships qualification standard in the boys' 100m hurdles at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium. Swapna, who won the inaugural Asian Schools Athletics Championships gold in Kuantan, Malaysia, in September accounted for the first national record of the championships as she scaled 1.71m in the youth (Under-18) girls' high jump. She improved Kavya Muthanna's nine-year-old National Youth Best by one centimetre. Nasimudheen, a 12th standard student of St George's Higher Secondary School at Kothamangam in Ernakulam district, became the first athlete of the meet to attain the qualifying standard for the World Junior Championships to be held in Eugene, United States, next July as he stopped the clock at 14.24 secs in the qualifying heats in the afternoon. later in the evening, Nasimudheen won the finals in a bit slower time of 14.38 secs.
Indian girl paddlers finish ninth
New Delhi: Indian girls' table tennis team finished ninth after beating Croatia 3-2 in the classification match at the 2013 World Junior Championships in Rabat, Morocco on Wednesday. The team, comprising Manika Batra, Suthirtha Mukherjee, Ayhika Mukherjee and Reeth Rishya Tennison, managed to win the 9-10 play-off matches. Both Ayhika Mukherjee and Manika Batra lost their matches against Jeger Mateja 11-9, 11-9, 7-11, 6-11, 9-11 and Rakovac lea 8-11, 11-9, 7-11, 7-11 but Reeth Rishya pulled one back beating Markati Paula 10-12, 15-13, 12-10, 11-7 to infuse fresh blood into the competition. Then Manika defeated Jeger Mateja 13-11, 11-5, 11-9 and Ayhika downed Rakova lea 11-13, 11-7, 11-7, 11-9 to stage a remarkable victory. Earlier, India lost their both matches in stage II, going down to Korea and Romania with identical score of 1-3.
Prerna Bhambri enters last eight
Pune: Prerna Bhambri kept the Indian flag flying by entering the singles quarter-finals of the NECC-ITF women's USD 25,000 event at Deccan Gymkhana here today but three of her compatriots made their exits. Delhi girl Bhambri played some flawless tennis to whip an erratic Peangtarn Plipuech of Thailand in straight sets. Plipuech's gave glimpses of a fight when she broke the Indian in the fifth game of the first set but Bhambri broke back promptly and then again in the 10th game, to win the set 6-4. The second set was totally one-sided as Bhambri didn't drop a single game on her way to a clash against Kazakhstan's Kamila Kerimbayeva for a berth in the semis. But three other Indian women were eliminated. Mumbai's girl Snehadevi Reddy had no answers to the power of Thailand's Nungnadda Wanasuk, losing 1-6 0-6.
Arun in junior nationals final
Chandigarh: Third seed Kerala's Arun George saved six match points before upsetting top seed and defending champion Harsheel Dani of Air India to reach the under-19 singles final in the 38th Junior National Badminton championship, here on Wednesday. Arun, who had staged a similar comeback in the pre-quarterfinals yesterday, made the most of the next exchanges in the business end of the match to win the 48-minute encounter 17-21, 21-16, 25-23.
Mthangayi facing 2nd doping ban
Cape Town: South African marathon runner lindhikaya Mthangayi has tested positive for a banned anabolic steroid and faces a six-year ban following a previous doping offense. The South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport says Mthangayi tested positive for methandienone at the Cape Town Marathon in September, which he won. Mthangayi was previously banned for six months after testing positive for the stimulant methylhexaneamine in 2009. He will be charged at an independent doping tribunal for his latest offense and can request to have his "B'' sample tested.
Hamburg, Dortmund advance
Frankfurt: Hoffenheim stunned Schalke 3-1 on Tuesday to reach the quarterfinals of the German Cup, while three-time champion Borussia Dortmund eased to a 2-0 win over third-tier Saarbruecken. In other matches, Hamburger SV beat second-tier Cologne 2-1 after a late goal from Ivo Ilicevic and Kaiserslautern won 3-0 at Union Berlin in a showdown between two leading second-division clubs. Kai Herdling sent a cross in the 21st minute that sailed past several players into Schalke's net for Hoffenheim's lead. Kevin Volland and Roberto Firmino then used two quick turnovers by Schalke to score in the 32nd and 35th. PNS/Agencies