Junior grapplers win five medals
New Delhi: Young Indian grapplers reaped rich dividends at the Junior Asian Wrestling Championship, winning a gold, three silvers and one bronze medal in the tournament at Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, here on Friday. Female wrestler, Vinesh (51 Kg) won the gold in Greco Roman Style, while male grapplers Ravinder (60Kg), Sandeep (84 Kg) and Anil (50 Kg) clinched silvers in Greco Roman Style, President of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh said. Female wrestler Pooja Dhanda (58 Kg) won the bronze. The competition in all weight categories of Greco Roman Style for four weight categories of female wrestling have been concluded, while the bouts in four weight categories of female wrestling and four weight categories in free style will be held on Saturday.
Women’s hockey team announced
New Delhi: Midfielder Ritu Rani will lead a 21-member Indian women’s hockey squad in the upcoming tour of Malaysia, which is scheduled to take place from June 7 to June 17 as part of preparations for the Commonwealth and Asian Games. India will be playing a six-match test series in Kuala lumpur, the last one in the build-up to the CWG in Glasgow, which will be organised from July 23 to August 3. The squad was selected by Hockey India selectors B P Govinda, Harbinder Singh, Surinder Kaur along with chief coach Neil Hawgood and scientific advisor Matthew Tredrea. Selection trials for the same were conducted at NSNIS Patiala on May 23 and 24. The preparatory camp of the senior women’s team for Commonwealth Games and Asian Games 2014 is already in progress at NSNIS Patiala. Squad: Goalkeepers: Yogita Bali, Savita. Defenders: Deepika (Vice-Captain), Kirandeep Kaur, Sunita lakra, Namita Toppo, Jaspreet Kaur, Gurjit Kaur, Asunta lakra, Deep Grace Ekka. Midfielders: Ritu Rani (Captain), Sushila Chanu, lilima Minz, Vandana Katariya, Amandeep Kaur, Navjot Kaur. Forwards: Rani Rampal, Poonam Rani, Ritusha Arya, Anupa Barla, Anuradha Devi.
Ravi Kumar among 8 lifters for CWG
New Delhi: Delhi Commonwealth Games gold medallist K Ravi Kumar will be spearheading the eight-strong Indian men’s weightlifting challenge at the upcoming edition of the quadrennial event, to be held in Glasgow from July 23 to August 3. While Ravi Kumar qualified for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 77kg category at the CWG and Asian Games selection trials at NIS, Patiala, last edition’s women’s gold medallist of India, Renu Bala Chanu (58kg), missed the cut. Selection Committee of the Indian Weightlifting Federation has selected the final team contingent for the Commonwealth and Asian Games at Incheon, South Korea from September 19 to October 4. Ravi Kumar’s gold in the Delhi CWG came in the 69kg category. Others who earned berths in men’s section include Suken Dey, who bagged a silver in 56kg category. Ganesh Mali is another one to qualify in the same section. Omkar Otari (69kg) and Chandrakant Mali (94kg) are the other big names who qualified.
SAI cycling academy set for UCI nod
New Delhi: The SAI National Cycling Academy (SAINCA) is set to get the nod of sport’s world governing body UCI, which has agreed to make the world-class facility its satellite centre. According to a Cycling Federation of India (CFI) release, the academy will be a UCI training centre by September. The centre was inaugurated at the IG Sports Complex Velodrome here in March. UCI president Brian Cookson gave his green light to the centre during a meeting with CFI and Sports Authority of India’s (SAI) officials during last month’s Asian Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan.
Bhullar opens with round of 70
Atzenburg (Austria): Indian golfer Gaganjeet Bhullar opened with a modest two-under 70 to be placed him tied 14th in the lyoness Open here. Bhullar had four birdies against three bogeys in his round, while Jeev Milkha Singh carded a one-under 71 to be tied 21st and SSP Chowrasia, making one of his rare his appearances in Europe since losing his card last year, shot a three-over 75 and was 70th. Jeev, a past winner in Austria, when the tournament was called by another name, has dropped from a career-high world ranking of inside top-30 to a current ranking of 618.
ICC committee discusses issues
Bangalore: Run-outs of non-striker batsmen backing up too early, the rising instances of confrontation among players and means to improve the use of technology in umpiring dominated the discussions at a two-day meeting of the ICC’s cricket committee here. The committee, headed by former Indian captain Anil Kumble, deliberated on the major issues facing the game. “The Cricket Committee believes that a non-striker should be deterred from leaving his or her crease before the time the bowler normally delivers the ball,” the ICC said in a statement. “It did not support a formal warning being introduced prior to a bowler being eligible to run out a non-striker, but it did support the view expressed by some captains that the umpires shouldn’t ask the captain whether he wanted the appeal to stand before making a final decision. The law strikes a sensible balance between preventing a batsman from gaining an advantage whilst at the same time preventing the bowler from unfairly seducing the batsman into leaving his crease by faking to deliver and then holding on to the ball,” it added.