Top athletes set for Asiads trials
Patiala: More than a thousand athletes, including most of the country's top stars, are set to vie for honours and a place in the Indian team for next month's Asian Games in the Federation Cup National Athletics Championship which begins here on Saturday. A record number of 1007 athletes, including 274 women, will take part in the four-day Championships which will also serve as selection trial for the Sep 19-Oct 4 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea. Except United States-based discus thrower Vikas Gowda, who won a gold in the recently-concluded Glasgow Commonwealth Games, all top track and field stars will be seen in action at the NIS Patiala athletics arena. As expected the competition in throw events -- especially women's discus -- promises to create a buzz with an exciting line-up in the offing. 2010 CWG gold medallist Krishna Poonia, triple medallist in the CWG (2006-2014), Seema Antil-Poonia and teen sensation Navjeet Kaur Dhillon, who won a bronze in 2014 IAAF World Junior Championships, will be in the fray for the title in the women's discus. "I'm looking forward to Asian Games and the Federation Cup should provide some exciting competition to launch the preparation," said Poonia, who had a light session on Friday. Men's triple jump will see a fight between 2014 Glasgow CWG bronze medallist Arpinder Singh and his senior colleague Renjith Maheswary. Others who will be seen in action include 2010 Asian Games bronze medal winner Tintu luka, who has been recently nominated for the Arjuna Award, women high jumper Sahana Kumari and Mayookha Johny. luka has entered in both women's 400m and 800m races while Mayookha made entry on women's long jump as well as triple jump.
kush Kumar's impressive run ends
Windhoek (Namibia): Top seed Diego Elias of Peru proved too good for India's Kush Kumar in the semifials of the World Junior Squash Championships here. Elias ended Kumar's impressive run in the tournament with a 11-5, 11-7, 11-4 victory on Friday. The title favourite takes on Egyptian Omar El Atmas, who beat Pakistan's Syed Ali Buhkari 13-11, 10-12, 11-9, 12-10 in the other semifinal. It was a memorable experience for Kumar who became the first Indian reach the semifinals of the premier tournament on the junior circuit. "To be honest, I am happy with the way I played throughout this tournament. Overall, I'm having a great time in Namibia ... The weather is great and people are very friendly and reaching the semis tops it all. I'm really happy with myself," Kumar told the tournament website.
Harmanpreet reprimanded
Dubai: Indian batswoman Harmanpreet Kaur escaped fine but was reprimanded for showing dissent at the umpire's decision on the first day of the first against England women cricket team on Tuesday. Harmanpreet pleaded guilty to the level 1 breach of the ICC Code of Conduct and accepted the sanction proposed by ICC Match Referee David Jukes. The charge was brought by on-field umpires Billy Taylor and David Millns. "Kaur was found to have breached Article 2.1.3 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to "Showing dissent at an umpire's decision during an International Match," ICC said in a statement. "As such, there was no need for a formal hearing." All level 1 breaches carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand and a maximum penalty of 50 per cent of a player's match fee.
124 participants complete ‘ultra run'
Mumbai: Notwithstanding the humid weather, as many as 124 participants, including 18 women, today completed a 12-hour 'ultra run', held for the first time in Mumbai. "Though the weather was humid and we had only few spells of rain, majority of the registered runners finished the race. This was Mumbai's first and the country's biggest ultra run," said Pranav Mehta of Shivaji Park Marathon Club, the organising body. Any race requiring the participants to run a distance of more than 42 km -- the distance covered in full marathon -- is termed as ultra run. Ultra runs are held at Bangalore, Ooty, in Himachal Pradesh and ladakh at present. Mehta said there was regular monitoring of the runners in the 12-km loop between Shivaji Park and Worli. The run was flagged off at Shivaji Park at 5 am. Most of the participants were not professional athletes. "The purpose is to show that human body is made for such rigours and to do away with many myths around running," he said. There was no 'competition' as such as the event involved continuous running for 12 hours in the designated loop.
Suarez starts training with Barca
Barcelona: luis Suarez says he's ready to put his latest episode of gross misconduct behind him after his first practice with Barcelona, a day after his suspension for biting an opponent was softened. Suarez said on Friday he was "very happy to feel like a football player again" after training with lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and the rest of his new teammates at Barcelona's practice grounds outside the Catalan capital. On Thursday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld FIFA's decision to ban Suarez from playing for four months but lessened its restriction on other football-related activities, including practicing and playing friendlies. Suarez called his biting of Italy's Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup in June an error. It was his third biting incident in his career.
Aguero signs 5-year deal with City
Manchester: Argentina striker Sergio Aguero has signed a new five-year contract with Manchester City, joining David Silva and Vincent Kompany in committing his future to the English champions this week. The 26-year-old Aguero's new deal runs to 2019. City made the announcement on Thursday, meaning Aguero, Kompany and Silva - three of the club's most important players - have signed long-term deals in consecutive days. Since joining from Atletico Madrid in 2011, Aguero has scored 75 goals in 122 games.
Antonio Conte chosen as Italy coach
Rome: Former Juventus manager Antonio Conte was confirmed as the new coach of Italy after signing a two-year contract on Thursday. The Italian football federation announced the appointment, three days after new president Carlo Tavecchio was elected. Tavecchio and Conte spoke on the phone early Thursday. Conte will be presented at a news conference in Rome on Tuesday. His contract was to July 31, 2016, following the European Championship in France.
Chowrasia best Indian in first round
Farso (Denmark): Playing with a limited status on the European Tour, SSP Chowrasia shot one-under 70 and was tied fifth at the end of the first round of the inaugural Made in Denmark golf tournament here on Friday. Two-time winner on European Tour, Chowrasia, who lost his card on the Tour last year, had five birdies, two bogeys and one double bogey. The other three Indians in the field, Jeev Milkha Singh, Shiv Kapur and Gaganjeet Bhullar carded two-over 73 each to be tied 43rd. Thomas Bjorn, the veteran star, called 'Big Dane', was among three players to card a 5-under 66 and he shares the lead after the opening round. Felipe Aguilar and Bradley Dredge joined him with 66 each at Himmerland Golf & Spa Resort.