Hamilton tops both practices
Barcelona: A happy lewis Hamilton topped the times in both sessions today as he and his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg dominated opening practice for Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix. The Mercedes pair were fastest overall at the end of the afternoon with Hamilton setting the pace and reveling in his form and his role as a settled senior member of the German outfit. His speed, he said, showed he was in “a good place”. He said: “It really means a lot to me to feel that I am an integral part of this team and I love the huge energy that goes into the car and working with the engineers. “It gives me a really special feeling. These guys, the engineers, they can do anything and it is up to us to help by ‘steering the bubble’ and me and Nico, we do it together.” As he bids for his first Spanish Grand Prix triumph this weekend after three consecutive victories, Hamilton said he was aiming to grab the 34th pole of his career and make sure he can stay out of trouble with back-markers on a circuit where it is difficult to overtake easily.
HC upholds Sports Code
New Delhi: Former Sports Minister Ajay Maken on Friday welcomed the Delhi High Court decision to uphold the legal validity of the Sports Code which was passed by the government during his tenure, saying that his stand on the initiative has been vindicated. The National Sports Development Code of India was passed by the government in 2011 under the initiative of Maken and primarily seeks to put restrictions on the age and tenure of office bearers, besides envisaging free and fair elections and transparent functioning of National Sports Federations. “My stand on the Sports Code has been vindicated with the High Court supporting the Code which was envisaged in February 2011. This Code will ensure that the NSFs follow the age and tenure norms and also conduct the election in a free, fair and transparent manner through secret ballot as provided for in the National Sports Code,” said Maken who served as Sports Minister in 2011-12. Under the Sports Code, the age limit of all the office bearers will have to be 70 years.
semi-final line-up complete
Golaghat: Seeking to reach their maiden final, first-timers Delhi will lock horns with heavyweights Manipur, while Jharkhand take on Orissa in semifinals of the 20th Women’s National Championships here on Friday. Delhi have been the surprise element of the nationals with their superlative performance against the likes of two-time champions West Bengal and stronger opponents like Kerala and Bihar. “We are pinching ourselves,” team captain and India striker Jyoti Ann Burret said. “It’s been a valiant effort for us to reach this far overcoming the likes of Bengal. The Team gelled really well and we stuck to a plan. We can draw a lot of inspiration from this effort,” she added. According to the 24-year old marksman, Delhi Coach Paritosh Sharma’s ‘modern outlook’ has played a vital part in the team success. Delhi take on 16-time champions Manipur in the semifinals and Jyoti feels the job at hand is enormous.
Prarthana, Rishika for ITF title
Hyderabad: Prarthana Thombare and fourth seed Rishika Sunkara set up the singles title clash at the USD 10,000 ITF women’s tennis event after scoring contrasting victories in their respective semifinals, here on Friday. Prarthana had to dig deep to subdue third seed Natasha Palha 7-6 (5) 7-5 while Delhi girl Rishika spanked sixth seed Nidhi Chilumula 6-1 6-0 in her last-four stage match at Sania Mirza Tennis Academy. It will be the third final of the season for Prarthana, who is India’s second highest ranked player in singles at number 389. She won a title in Chennai last month while ended runner-up at the Aurungabad ITF event in January. For Rishika, who is the country’s third best singles player at 559, it will be the first singles final of 2014 season.
HI Sub-Jr Nationals from today
New Delhi: A total of 34 teams, including three new entrants, will vie for top honours in the fourth edition of the Hockey India Sub-Junior Men National Championship which will begin in Vadodara and Ranchi on Friday. Three new teams namely Vidarbha Hockey Association, Hockey Citizens XI and Hockey Gangpur-Odisha have been added in this season making the championship more exciting. The 34 teams participating this year are divided into two divisions — A and B. While Division A will have 16 teams, Division B will consist of 18 teams. Division A will further be divided into four pools consisting of four teams each. In Division B too there will be four pools with 5 teams each in the first pool and four teams each in the next two.
Blatter to stand again
lausanne: FIFA president Sepp Blatter plans to run for a fifth term as the boss of global football, the Swiss newspaper Blick said on Friday. “I want to do this, because things aren’t over yet. My mandate is running out, but my mission is not finished,” the 78-year-old was quoted as saying by the tabloid. Blick said that Blatter’s comments came in response to questions about his future. during a debate it had organised between representatives of the Swiss business and sporting world.