India set up gold medal clash Kolkata: Indian men’s recurve team have set up a gold medal clash with world champions Korea thereby assuring themselves a medal in the ongoing Archery World Cup Stage 2 at Medellin, United States.
According to information received here, a new look Indian recurve team of Sanjay Boro, Atanu Das and Thupuvoyi Swuro, who qualified to the elimination round as second seed, defeated China 5-3 in the semifinals. Indians, however, suffered a setback in the women’s recurve team event as they made a shock first round exit after losing to Italy 3-5 despite the return of world no three Deepika Kumari. The Indians will also have a bronze medal hope in the mixed recurve where Das and laishram Bombayla Devi will take on Mexico. The third seeded Chinese trio of Jialun li, Zhiwei Yong and Shuai Zhang shot two perfect 10s en route to a 54-50 lead in the first end but the Indians replied strongly firing the bull’s eye and one 10 in the second end to make it one-all. The third end saw a neck-and-neck fight to tie 54-54 but the rookie Indian team held their nerves posting an amazing four perfect 10s in the fourth set en route to a sizable win by five points. Earlier in the day, the Indian recurve team got past Chile 6-2 before routing Spain 6-0 to make the semifinals. Both the finals are slated on the concluding day on Sunday.
Punjabmaul J&K 22-0
Haldwani: Punjab mauled Jammu and Kashmir 22-0 while Mizoram thrashed Manipur 7-0 on the third day of 4th Hockey India Sub-Junior Women National Championship (Division B) here on Saturday. Amandeep Kaur alone (6th, 19th, 27th, 28th, 44th, 47th, 48th, 49th minutes) rained in eight goals for Punjab in the pool D match. Gurleen Grewal (4th), Amrinder Kaur(14th, 29th, 40th), Ramanpreet Kaur (15th), Gagandeep Kaur (34th, 67th), Priyanka (35th, 37th, 60th), Rajwinder Kaur (57th), Kajal (63rd, 65th) were the other scorers in the goal feast for Punjab against a hapless J&K. In the Pool D match between Mizoram and Manipur, lalrindiki (3rd, 11th), lalawmpui (24th, 68th), lalremsiami (32nd) and lalruatkimi (56th, 61st) were the goal scorers. In other matches, Goa and Puducherry played out a 2-2 draw while Hockey Gangpur — Odisha thrashed Bihar 5-0. Disha Mandrekar and Kerryanna Albuquerque scored for Goa in the 10th and 32nd minute but Puducherry restored parity through R Agilandeeswari (48th) and G Sangeetha (65th) in the pool C match. In another Pool C match, Hockey Gangpur Odisha outplayed Bihar through goals from Rojita Kujar (18th, 40th and 61st minutes), Janhabi Pradhan (49th) and Rinki Kujar (67th).
SCR to face Army XI in final
Mumbai: South Central Railway outplayed Western Railway 4-1, while Army XI pipped Indian Oil 2-1 to enter the final of the 10th All India Guru Tegh Bahadur Gold Cup Hockey Tournament here on Saturday. In the first semifinals, South Central Railway’s prolific scorer Mayank James put them ahead in the seventh minute before Raju Pal capitalised on a defensive error to double the lead in the 12th minute. Full back Gagandeep Singh converted a penalty corner in the 49th minute and later Sandeep Kumar Singh struck the fourth in the 64th minute. Western Railway looked out of sorts and were unable to keep ball possession and got the lone goal through Jay Karan’s field effort in the 39th minute. In the other semi-final tie, the Army side fired home the first goal in the 17th minute when Vishwa Thakur’s crisp hit from the left deflected off Indian Oil defender Hamza Mujtaba’s stick. In the second half, Army increased the lead when Siraju A P scored off a rebound in the 49th minute.
Kabaddi league auction on May 20
Mumbai: The players’ auction for the inaugural season of Pro Kabaddi league, promoted by Mashal Sports, is to be held here on May 20 and would see 96 players from 13 countries going under the hammer for the eight franchise teams. The auction would be hosted by Bob Hayton, who has over 30 years of auctioning experience, said a media release on behalf of the league set to be held in June-July. Franchise teams representing Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Jaipur, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune and Vishakapatnam would compete in the league. All team owners have been mandated to build a team of 12 players from the three categories, A, B and C, that each of the 96 players are categorised into based on their prior records and achievements.
IOA surprised over AIBA approval New Delhi: Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Saturday expressed surprise that the International Boxing Federation (AIBA) has granted provisional approval to an Indian boxing body without consulting it. IOA Secretary General Rajeev Mehta told PTI that under the International Olympic Council rules, the AIBA should have consulted the National Olympic Committee before giving approval to the group. “I have not got any official communication from the AIBA regarding this. Nor my president (N Ramachandran) has got any communication. We don’t know anything about this. We read the news in the newspapers,” Mehta said. “We should have been consulted by the AIBA because ultimately any National Sports Federation will need the IOA’s recognition and the participation of any Indian athlete (read boxer) in international events will have to go through the IOA,” he said. He said the IOA was surprised at the development. “We were surprised at the development. I think it (AIBA giving approval to ‘Boxing India’) is not in consonance with IOC rules. Under the Olympic Charter, an NOC (National Olympic Committee) has a special place over any sports activity in the country. The AIBA should have consulted us.” he said. “Senior members of the IOA will meet within a few days in Delhi and take a decision on the future course of action,” he added.
Dilip shocks Aditya Mehta
Mumbai: Dilip Kumar of Railways stunned ace cueist Aditya Mehta 3-1 in a best-of-five frames Group A tie in the CCI Classic Billiards & Snooker Tournament, here on Saturday. Tamil Nadu based Kumar got off to a dream start when he bagged the opening frame with a significant break of 53 that boosted his confidence. However, Mehta bounced back with a break of 40 to win the second frame. But Kumar held on to small but significant breaks to remain ahead in the following two frames to fashion a memorable win. later, Mehta shrugged off the loss and made amends with wins over former Maharashtra state champion Nikhil Ootam and I H Manudev of Karnataka.