Hamilton wins BBC SPOTY 2014
lONDON: Formula One world champion lewis Hamilton has been voted as the BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2014. The 29-year-old Mercedes driver won his second world title this season by taking 11 races. He won 34 percent of the vote Sunday, followed by Northern Irish golfer Rory McIlroy with 20 percent and athlete Jo Pavey third with 16 percent. Cristiano Ronaldo won overseas Sports Personality of the Year ahead of Serena Williams, Floyd Mayweather and Marc Marquez.
2016 olympic mascots named
Rio de Janeiro: The 2016 Rio Olympic Games mascot was named Vinicius after a three-week Internet voting while Tom was chosen as the name of the Paralympic Games mascot. Organisers Sunday said the names attracted 323,327 public votes and they are in honour of two greats of the Brazilian music, Vinicius de Moraes and Tom Jobim, reports Xinhua. Vinicius the mascot is a yellow feline animal representing Brazil’s rich fauna and wildlife. Tom is a predominantly blue and green figure whose head is covered with leaves, depicting the host country’s rich vegetation.
s.v sunil, sreejesh bag awards
Bhubaneswar: India may not have finished on the podium in the hockey Champions Trophy, but the Indian players displayed tremendous skills with four of them bagging individual awards. Indian vice-captain P.R. Sreejesh was awarded 'Best Goalkeeper of the Tournament’, while senior striker S.V. Sunil walked away with the "Most energetic Player of the Tournament’ award. Indian captain Sardar Singh was a favourite with the fans and the centre-half got their favour with the ‘Fan’s Choice’ award. Young striker Akashdeep Singh, who made his presence felt in the meet, bagged the ‘Best Junior Player of the Tournament' award. German co-captain Moritz Furste was adjudged ‘Best Player of the Tournament' while Dutch star striker Jeroen Herztberger scored the maximum number of goals.
Bryant eclipses Jordan in nba
Minneapolis: lA lakers’ Kobe Bryant has moved up to the third spot in the NBA all-time scoring list, surpassing legend Michael Jordan. Bryant, in his 19th season, passed the Chicago Bulls stalwart (32,292 points) with a free throw in the second quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Bryant finished the game with 26 points to reach the scoring total of 32,310 as the lakers defeated the Timberwolves 100-94. Bryant now trails only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387 points) and Karl Malone (36,928) in career points.
Italian PM announces 2024 bid
ROME: Italy announced Monday that Rome will be a candidate to host the 2024 Olympics, a decision that comes two years after the government scrapped plans to bid for the 2020 Games because of financial reasons. Italy, which hosted the 1960 Olympics, planned to bid for the 2020 Games but the project was withdrawn after then-premier Mario Monti refused to provide financial backing at a time of economic crisis.
Archery seeks mixed team event
lONDON: Archery is proposing the inclusion of a mixed team event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The world archery federation's executive board approved the recommendation at a meeting in Nottingham, England, over the weekend. World Archery says it will submit a proposal for a mixed team event to the IOC. A mixed team archery competition already features at the Youth Olympics and World Games.
Soparkar stuns veteran yasmin
Mumbai: Qualifier Abhishek Soparkar shocked seasoned cueist Yasin Merchant 7-6 in the `1.89 lakh NSCI-BoI All India 9-Ball Open Pool tournament here on Monday. Soparkar, a resident of Thane who trailed former Asian snooker champion Merchant 2-5, surged to a 6-5 lead with a stunning recovery, before snatching a nail-biting win on a day of close encounters. In other ties that went down to the wire, Mahesh Jagdale of Elphinstone Cricket Club beat qualifier Divesh Gangwani of Juhu Vile Parle Gymkhana and Arun Madhu of Tamil Nadu overcame J S Dawer of host club NSCI.
chinappa, pallikal in top eight
Cairo: India's Joshana Chinappa dispatched 12th seed Madeline Perry of Ireland while 14th seed Dipika Pallikal survived a Mexican scare to enter the pre-quarterfinals of the Women's World Squash Championship here on Monday. World No. 22 Chinappa took 50 minutes to chalk out a 14-12, 11-7, 4-11, 11-7 win over 14th-ranked Perry in the opening round of the USD $150,000 competition. Chinappa will have to come up with something special to win against her next opponent, low Wee Wern, the World No. 7 from Malaysia. Pallikal, who is the lone Indian female to reach the tournament quarterfinals, endured a tough start to the competition.
men’s boxing nationals from jan
New Delhi: Boxing India on Monday said it will hold its First Elite Men’s Nationals in Nagpur from January 9 to 15. The Championship will be the second under its umbrella, after having successfully organised the Women’s National Championships in Raipur this year. The event served as the qualifier for the World Women's Championships held in Jeju, South Korea, with India having won two silver medals at the premier competition. Boxing India president Sandeep Jajodia, said, “BI stands firm by its commitment to revive Boxing in India and ensure that Boxing continues. I reiterate that BI is steadfast to assist IOA to select the best performing talent to showcase their boxing skills at the National Games in Kerala.”
lee to defend malaysian open
Kuala lumpur: Defending champion lee Westwood will return for defence of his 2015 Maybank Malaysian Open title at the Kuala lumpur Golf and Country Club Feb 5-8. Ryder Cup teammates Graeme McDowell and captain Paul McGinley were earlier announced as the marquee names for the $3 million showpiece, jointly sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour. Former World No.1 Westwood, who Sunday claimed his 42nd career title in Thailand, is looking to lift the Seagram Trophy for the third time. Flamboyant Frenchman Victor Dubuisson will also take part.