Blake, shelly-ann ready to run
Nassau: Jamaican sprinters Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Yohan Blake headline a raft of high-profile athletes who will debut at the inaugural two-day IAAF World Relays this weekend. The event is launched by the IAAF to increase the appeal of track events, the relays promise to throw up a high-octane competition. Total prize money of USD 1.4 million is up for grabs for more than 600 athletes from 43 countries. USD 50,000 will to the winning team and for the new world record respectively. The top eight teams, from both men and women, will automatically qualify for the 2015 World Championships in Beijing. Veronica Campbell Brown and Usain Bolt will not make the trip. Kenya look set to be going for record breaking in at least the 4x1500m relay, with Asbel Kiprop. The “Pocket Rocket”, the reigning two-time Olympic sprint champion was the anchor of Jamaica’s championship-record-setting after claiming 41.29sec, second fastest of all time, in the Russian Capital. She also led off Jamaica’s silver medal team at the london Olympics, bested there only by the United States team’s 40.82 world record run.
Jeevan managing Uzbek challenge
Karshi: India’s Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan reached the semi-finals of an ATP Challenger event for the first time in his career with a quick straight sets victory over Mikhail ledovskkih even as Saketh Myneni bowed of the USD 50,000 event, here on Thursday.Unseeded Jeevan, ranked 359, scored a 6-3 6-2 win over the Russian, who was perhaps tired following a qualifying campaign and then playing a long and energy-sapping match on Wednesday. After breaking ledovskkih early in the first set, the left-handed player from Tamil Nadu had no problem in clinching the match in just 49 minutes. “I am serving well. It has been a good week so far,” Jeevan, who next faces Chase Buchanan, said. Among other Indians, Davis Cupper Myneni lost both his matches while Divij Sharan’s campaign also ended in the doubles. Myneni lost to Nikoloz Basilashvili and then with partner James Cluskey he lost in the doubles semifinal. Sharan and Huang, seeded fourth, lost in their semifinal too.
Double win for Ankita
Tianjin: India’s number one singles player Ankita Raina enjoyed a superb day at the $25,000 ITF women’s event as she reached the singles quarter-finals and the doubles final with Omani partner Fatma Al Nabhani, here on Wednesday. The Indian rallied to beat China’s Yuxuan Zhang 4-6 6-4 6-1 in the second round of the hard court tournament. Ankita then qualified for her second doubles final of the season and first ever doubles final abroad when she along with Fatma upset fourth seeds Wen-Hsin Hsu from Taipei and Chen liang from China 6-2 6-2. Ankita and Fatma dropped serve early to be down 0-2 but reeled off 11 games in a row to not only pocket the first set but also take a commanding 5-0 lead in the second. They lost one serve but easily clinched the issue.
AIBA furious at IOA
New Delhi: Furious with the Indian Olympic Association Secretary General Rajeev Mehta, the International Boxing Association on Thursday said his claims that the IOA was not kept in the loop while approving the group to run Indian boxing were “ill-informed” and created a “misunderstanding”. “AIBA would like to correct ill-informed comments made by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) Secretary General Mr. Rajeev Mehta following the approval of Boxing India as provisional new AIBA member”. “AIBA President Dr. Ching-Kuo Wu and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President, Mr. Narayna Ramachandran, met in lausanne to discuss issues related to boxing in India. AIBA received full support from the IOA with regards to the selection of the new AIBA member for India,” AIBA said.”Further to this agreement, AIBA immediately informed the IOA of the AIBA Executive Committee decision of 14 May to accept Boxing India as the new National Federation. This decision was simultaneously published on the AIBA website,” it added.”The IOA recently confirmed receipt of such a letter and apologised towards AIBA for the misunderstanding created. AIBA wishes to continue working with the IOA and sincerely hopes that this matter has now been cleared and settled.”
Silver for India at Youth Qualifiers
Bangkok: Distance runner Kisan Tadvi won a silver in boys’ 3000m race as India bagged just one medal on the second and concluding day of the 2014 Youth Olympics Asian Area Athletics Qualification event here on Thursday. Tadvi clocked 8 minutes 27.87 seconds to settle for a silver behind Bahrain’s Abdo Abdi Ibrahim (8:26.39). China’s liu Hongliang was third in 8:33.46. The Indians had bagged four medals yesterday, including a gold from Ajay Kumar Saroj who won the boys’ 1,500m race. This morning, the Indians had a disappointing start with race walker K T Neena (26:11.78) and hammer thrower Pradeep Kumar (61.76m) finishing fourth in their respective events. In the afternoon, Arshdeep Singh finished sixth in 800m race in 1:57.19 and Aftab Alam seventh in 400m hurdles in 53.99 secs. Asian powerhouse China, which is hosting the Youth Olympics in Nanjing from August 16-28, displayed their prowess for the second straight day with an impressive haul of medals.
Punjab, Haryana finish semis list
New Delhi: Punjab and Haryana on Thursday registered wins in their respective pool matches to join Jharkhand and Odisha in the semifinals of 4th Hockey Sub- Junior Boy’s National Championship (Division A) in Ranchi. While Punjab outclassed Maharashtra 8-0 in a Pool C match, Haryana defeated Mizoram 3-1 in a Pool D encounter.