Federer loses in Italian Open
Rome: Roger Federer appeared to lose focus in his first match back after the birth of his second set of twins, allowing a lead to slip away as he crashed to a second-round defeat at the Italian Open on Wednesday.The 17-time Grand Slam winner lost to 47th-ranked Jeremy Chardy of France 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6). Federer’s boys, leo and lenny, were born last week, prompting the fourth-ranked Swiss player to withdraw from the Madrid Open. “This one is totally OK if it doesn’t hurt,” Federer said. “I tried everything. I can’t do more than that on the court.” Federer had a match point in the tiebreaker but Chardy saved it with an improbable cross-court forehand on the run when it looked like Federer was about to close the match out. “That passing shot is a tough one for me to take, because he’s not going to make that very often,” Federer said. “But it happens and credit to him to fight his way back into the match and get it.”
Advani pockets CCI billiards title
Mumbai: Eight-time world champion Pankaj Advani (ONGC) stamped his authority yet again by pocketing the billiards crown in the Cricket Club of India (CCI) Classic Billiards and Snooker tournament here on Wednesday. The Bangalore-based cueist defeated Dhruv Sitwala in the final. Advani, 27, also won the Highest Break award for the 530, which he scored against Devendra Joshi in the quarter-finals. At the halfway mark of the four-hour final, Sitwala, who was nursing a fever, was trailing 227-787 with the aid of a 95 break. Advani, on the other hand, had procured breaks of 243, 193, 98, 87 and 78. The onslaught continued after the interval when Advani resumed on a break of 22 and converted it into a double hundred. This effort was followed by a barrage of back-to-back breaks of 96, 89 and 196 in successive visits.
Sai backs 2019 Asiad bidding plan
New Delhi: Sports Authority of India today backed the IOA on its plan to bid for the 2019 Asian Games here, saying that the country has the infrastructure to stage the multi-sporting event which is now without a host venue after Vietnam capital Hanoi’s withdrawal. SAI Director General Jiji Thomson told PTI that India should also bid for Olympic Games in the near future. “It’s a good idea (IOA’s desire to host 2019 Asian Games.) We have the infrastructure to host such Games. We read that the IOA is waiting for the new government to take over. Whenever this bid for 2019 Asian Games comes up, we will support it,” Thomson said. “Why should we shy away from hosting these big Games only because there was corruption scandals in 2010 Commonwealth Games. I am not denying that there was corruption but we should not remain stuck because of that and not host other big Games,” he said after inaugurating the SAI National Swimming Academy at the Talkatora Complex here.
Tainted official attends AIFF meet
New Delhi: When Indian sport is trying to get rid of tainted officials, the Uttar Pradesh Football Sangh (UPFS) secretary, accused of sexual harassment, took shelter under the law to attend the executive committee meeting of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) here Wednesday. UPFS secretary Mohammed Shamsuddin, who is out on bail after being arrested last month in Varanasi on charges of sexual harassment, attended the meeting. He is also the vice-chairman of AIFF finance committee. A top AIFF official told IANS that Shamsuddin was a mute spectator at the meeting as he had little to contribute to the deliberations. "Hardly anyone took notice of his presence, not even president Praful Patel," the official, not wanting to be identified, said.
Bhutia, Chhetri in U-17 WC committee
New Delhi: Aiming to beef up the technical know-how ahead of the 2017 Under-17 World Cup, AIFF president Praful Patel today suggested the formation of a special committee involving former and current skippers Bhaichung Bhutia and Sunil Chhetri. In a meeting here, the All India Football Federation’s executive committee endorsed Patel’s suggestion to appoint a “special committee to advice the technical structure for the 2017 U-17 FIFA World Cup”. Experienced coach Derrick Pereira’s name has also been recommended to be a part of the panel. The Cola Cola Cup will form the base for talent scouting for the Indian national team for the mega event in 2017. Boys born on or after January 1, 2000 will be eligible for the Coca Cola championship.
HP beat Rajasthan, assam hold j&K
New Delhi: Assam and Jammu & Kashmir played a tough game as they drew 2-2 on the Day-5 of the 4th Sub-Junior National Men Championship 2014 (Division B) played today at Vadodara, Gujarat. In another match of Pool A, Himachal Pradesh defeated Rajasthan with an astonishing 6-2 margin. The first two goals of the match came within a span of three minutes where Himachal Prasdesh’s Vachiter Singh opened the account for the team in the 9th minute which was immediately levelled by Rajasthan’s Urmil Kumar Sharma in the 11th minute. Sahil Kumar of Himachal Pradesh proved to be the key to the team’s success as he sliced in two more goals in the second half in the 38th and the 70th minute and routed the team to a huge 6-2 win alone.