WTA unclear about ITPl
Singapore: The Women’s Tennis Association, which has turned to Asia to grow its sport, is unclear how the Indian Tennis Premier league is going to pan out. “We’re still learning about it, just as the world and the media is,” said Melissa Pines, vice-president, Asia-Pacific on the sidelines of its new announcement to bring the season-ending BNP Paribas WTA Championships to South East Asia for the first time this year. The Mahesh Bhupathi-promoted ITPl, following its recent draft in Dubai, announced that among the women players who have signed up are Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka, Ana Ivanovic, Caroline Wozniacki, Daniela Hantuchova, Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza.
Sharath to lead India at Tokyo wc
New Delhi: Ace paddler Sharath Kamal will lead the 10-member Indian contingent including five women in the World Table Tennis championships to be held in Tokyo from April 28 to May 5. Members of the men’s team include Soumyajit Ghosh, Harmeet Desai, Anthony Amalraj and Sanil Shetty besides world no. 54 Sharath. Delhi’s Manika Batra and Pooja Sahasrabudhe of Mumbai have made it to the senior national women’s squad for the first time. Other members of the squad are K Shamini, Ankita Das and Madhurika Patkar. The men’s team will aim to better the 27th place it achieved in the previous edition at Dortmund in 2012.
ISl: Sporting to bid for KolkataIJ
New Delhi: I-league club Mohammedan Sporting are mulling over bidding for the Kolkata franchisee in the much-anticipated IPl-style football tournament scheduled to be held in September-October, a top official said on Tuesday. Mohammedan Sporting President Sultan Ahmed said that his club was interested in owning a franchisee in the Indian Super league, to be organised by IMG-Reliance, the commercial partner of the All India Football Federation. “We are interested in bidding for a franchisee in ISl but we have to look into the details of how we are going to go about it. We will discuss the matter in the club governing council meeting next week,” Ahmed said. Asked if the club would tie up with any corporate entity to bid for the franchisee, he said, “We have to first take a decision in principle that we will bid for a franchisee. After that we will decide the other details.”
Advani advances to second round
New Delhi: Eight-time world champion Pankaj Advani overcame a stiff challenge before prevailing over World No.25 Xiao Guodong in the first round of the Haikou World Open in China. The Chinese played in front of a home crowd that was keen to see him come through but were sportingly appreciative of a dynamic display of snooker by the Indian pro in a tight contest held in the Hainan province capital.
Sindhu to miss Malaysia GP Gold
New Delhi: In a bid to keep herself fit for the packed international schedule this year, Indian shuttler P V Sindhu will not be defending her women’s singles title at the $120,000 Malaysia Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament to be held at Johor Bahru from March 25-30. “Sindhu is playing back-to-back tournaments, the All England Championship and Swiss Open. She has to maintain her strength, and consecutive tournaments can be physically and mentally draining. So, she will have to skip Malaysia GP gold,” Sindhu’s father P V Ramana said from Hyderabad. “She will next play in India Super series in New Delhi and then Singapore Open,” he informed.
New Sachin coins to be launched
Mumbai: Special edition Sachin Tendulkar silver coins, with his face, name and signature embossed on them, will be launched here on March 14 in the presence of the Indian cricket legend himself. Valuemart Gold & Jewels and Diamond India would launch 15,921 coins, corresponding to the number of runs that the batting maestro scored in Tests during his glittering 24-year international career between 1989 and 2013. The special edition coins would also have the batting icon’s name at the top, 200th Test match-2013 written below, where his face is engraved, and “ST” logo, as per the details in the invite issued for the launch function.
AFC Cup: Churchill beat Radiant
Margao: Cristhian lagos struck twice as Churchill Brothers drubbed New Radiant of Maldives 3-0 to secure their first win in the AFC Cup here on Tuesday. lagos scored in the 31st and 75th minutes while Anthony Wolfe got the other goal in the 52nd minute in the Group E league match at Nehru Stadium at Fatorda here. With Tuesday’s win, Churchill, who lost to Persipura Jayapura of Indonesia in their opening encounter, opened their account with three points from two matches.
Aman in lead at Delhi NCR Cup
New Delhi: Aman Raj from Patna emerged as the surprise leader when he shot a 2-under par 70 under testing conditions to take the opening round’s honour in the Delhi NCR Cup which teed off at the Delhi Golf Club here on Tuesday. The strong wind took its toll as Aman’s was the lone under-par card. l Selvadurai was second at level par 72. Veteran Simarjeet Singh also shared the limelight as he made a hole-in-one on hole number 17.