SAI sanctions 2 crore to four shooters
New Delhi: In what came as a major boost to India’s medal prospects in shooting, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) has sanctioned more than Rs two crore for specialised training to four elite marksmen with an eye on Commonwealth Games and Asian Games later this year. The news has come as music to the ears of Ronjan Sodhi (two silver medals at 2010 CWG and a gold at 2010 Asian Games), Shagun Chaudhary (first Indian woman to qualify for the Olympic trap shooting event in london Games 2012), Heena Sidhu (gold medal in 2013 ISSF World Cup Finals in Germany), and Manavjit Singh Sandhu (gold at 1998 CWG, four silver medals at 1998, 2002, 2006 Asian Games), who have been provided with special funding by the SAI. All the four shooters have received more than Rs 50 lakh each for their specialised training in the run up to the ISSF World Championship in Granada; Commonwealth Games from July 23 to August 3 in Glasgow, Scotland; and Asian Games from September 19 to October 4 in Incheon, South Korea. The amount would be spent by these shooters on their training abroad at an European base. “We have sanctioned more than Rs 50 lakh each to Ronjan Sodhi, Shagun Chaudhary, Heena Sidhu and Manvjit Singh Sandhu for specialised training as part of their preparation for the World Championships, Commonwealth Games and Asian Games this year,” Neeraj Kansal, secretary SAI, said.
Yuki beats Somdev to storm into final
Chennai: Yuki Bhambri emerged winner in the contest between country’s top two tennis players as he brushed aside the challenge of India number one Somdev Devvarman in straight sets to breeze into the final of the ATP Challenger event, here on Friday. Yuki, ranked 71 places below his compatriot at 174, beat top seed Somdev 6-2 6-4 in one hour and 41 minutes in the semifinals of the USD 50,000 hard court event. later, Yuki also made the doubles final with New Zealand partner Michael Venus as they trounced Ruben Gonzales and Artem Sitak 6-2 6-1 in just 52 minutes. In his singles match, Seventh seed Yuki did not face a breakpoint in the first set and capitalised on two of the five he earned on Somdev’s serve to nose ahead. An intense battle followed in the second set and both the players struggled to hold serve. Yuki lost his thrice but managed to break Somdev four times to close the contest in his favour. Yuki will now fight it out with unseeded Russian Alexander Kudryavtsev, who shocked second seed and compatriot Evgeny Donskoy 7-6 (4) 6-3 in the other semifinal.
Purav-Marcelo upset 3rd seeds to reach semis
Zagreb (Croatia): India’s Purav Raja and his Brazilian partner Marcelo Demoliner reached the semifinals of the ATP 250 event after shocking third seeded pair of Julian Knowle and Johan Brunstrom, here. The unseeded Indo-Brazilian combo eked out a 6-3 7-5 win over Austrian-Swede pair in the quarter finals of the euro 426,605 hard court indoor tournament. They will next take on second seed Dutch-Romanian pair of Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau for a place in the first final of the season.
SRCC annual sports fest organised
New Delhi: The Festival of Youth Sport’14, the official annual sports fest of the Shri Ram College of Commerce successfully completed its journey on 7th Feb and words fail to describe this extravagant, elaborate, carefully planned and meticulously organized event. The last day of the fest experienced a similar plethora of energy as all sports reached their final stages. It is indispensable to mention the winners. In the outdoor sports category, SRCC won with flying colors in football while Shyamlal Anand College rose as the winner in hockey. The lesser known ball badminton was won by SRCC among boys and Maitreyi among girls. Athletics saw Sri Venkateshwara College win discus throw, S.G.T.B. Khalsa win long jump, DRC win shot-put and lSR win the 100m among girls and S.G.T.B. Khalsa among boys. In the indoor sports category, SRCC emerged as the winner among the boys and St. Stephens among the girls in basketball. Carrom was won by Zakir Hussain and Chess was won by SRCC. SGTB Khalsa College emerged as the winner in Badminton boys with SRCC finishing in the 2nd place.
Top lifter flunks dope test
New Delhi: Dope shame returned to haunt Indian weightlifting once again with 2011 Commonwealth Championships gold medallist lifter Rupinder Singh returning positive for an anabolic steroid in the test conducted in December last year. Rupinder was among 31 lifters whose urine samples were collected here by the National Anti-Doping Agency doctors on December 5 last on the request of Indian Weightlifting Federation. He had won a gold in the senior men’s +105kg snatch at the 2011 Commonwealth Championships.