Blackburn striker arrested
london: Indian-owned club Blackburn Rovers striker D J Campbell has been arrested as part of a football spot-fixing investigation, the club has confirmed. The 32-year-old is one of six persons detained in an investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA) after it acted on information passed to it by the ‘Sun on Sunday’ newspaper. In a statement, Blackburn said, “Following reports in today’s national media, Blackburn Rovers can confirm that striker DJ Campbell has been arrested. “The club will be making no further comment on what is now an ongoing legal matter,” said the Championship club owned by Pune-based Venkateshwara Hatcheries Group. The tabloid reported that an undercover investigator met former Portsmouth player Sam Sodje, who allegedly said he could arrange for footballers in the Championship (second tier) to get themselves a yellow card in return for tens of thousands of pounds. The 34-year-old claimed he could rig Premier league games and even said he was preparing to fix matches at next year’s World Cup in Brazil, the newspaper reported.
Waqar, Gilly in ICC Hall of Fame
Dubai: Former Pakistan captain Waqar Younis and ex-Australia wicketkepeer Adam Gilchrist will be inducted into the ICC’s Hall of Fame next week. Waqar and Gilchrist become the 70th and 71st male members of the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. Waqar will join the exclusive club during the first Twenty20 International between Pakistan and Sri lanka at Dubai International Stadium on December 11, while two days later in Perth, Gilchrist will be honoured during the tea interval of the third Ashes Test at the WACA. They will become the first two inductees of 2013-14, while two more names will be announced later this month.
Special athletes win 387 medals
New Delhi: Indian special athletes have returned with a rich haul of 387 medals, including 111 gold, in the first Asia pacific Olympic Games held in Newcastle, Australia from December 1 to 7. Competing against 2200 Athletes from 29 nations, the Indian team won 111 gold, 136 Silver and 140 Bronze across Athletics, Aquatics, Basketball, Badminton, Cricket, Football and Table Tennis, a release stated. Kirti Kalra, 18, and her sister Simran Kalra, 13, both with intellectual disabilities and impaired hearing effecting their speech, won three gold medals each.
Wrestlers strike gold
New Delhi: The Indian men’s Greco Roman wrestling team notched up a rich haul of seven gold, five silver and two bronze medals at the Commonwealth Championships held in Johannesburg from December 5 to 7. The women’s team ended runner-up in the event by winning two gold, four silver & five bronze. Earlier, the freestyle men’s team won the champions trophy with seven gold, four silver and three bronze medals.
India bag silver, bronze medals
Kolkata: India bagged a silver and a bronze medal in the men’s recurve section at the Indoor Archery World Cup in Singapore on Monday. According to information received here, Tarundeep Rai stunned Olympic silver medalist Brady Ellison en route to a silver medal, while Atanu Das won the bronze. For Rai, this was his first medal since winning a silver at the World Cup Stage 2 at Antalya in May last year. Rai first defeated Hing King Ma 6-0 and then got the better of Sultan Duzelbayev 6-4 to set up a last eight clash with former world number one Ellison. But it was a one-sided affair as Rai stunned the American heavyweight 6-2 before ousting Denis Gankin of Kazakhstan with an identical score to make the final. PNS/Agencies