Kipsang misses dope test
Nairobi: Athletics Kenya says former marathon world-record holder Wilson Kipsang missed an out-of-competition doping test last month. The organization says it was notified by the IAAF about the unsuccessful attempt to test the 2014 New York Marathon champion on Nov. 11. Athletics Kenya says no sanction will be imposed against Kipsang since it's his first failure to be evaluated.
HI starts coach selection process
New Delhi: If everything goes according to plan, Indian men's hockey team is expected to get a new foreign coach within a month, that is by the time the third season of Hero Hockey India league (HIl) starts on January 22. The process for selection of Australian Terry Walsh's successor had already started with Hockey India formally putting out advertisements for the post on Tuesday, the deadline of which ends on December 31. The high-profile post has been lying vacant since the last one month when Walsh suddenly quit from his position.
Bindra wins bronze in Nationals
Pune: India's sole individual Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra on Wednesday bagged the 50-metre rifle prone bronze medal, but the gold went to Hariom Singh in the 58th National Shooting Championships. Competing in the men's 50-metre rifle prone event after a gap of almost a decade, Bindra shot 183.8 to finish third on the podium at the Balewadi Shooting Range. India teammate Hariom, representing the Indian Army, won the top prize in the event shooting a total of 205 in the finals, after having qualified in sixth position. Gagan finished with 163.5.
Pak players wear black arm bands
Chandigarh: Pakistan players on Wednesday wore black arm bands during a match in the ongoing World Cup Kabbadi tournament being held in Punjab to pay homage to the children killed in a brutal terror attack on a Peshawar school. The Kabbadi players demonstrated their solidarity with the aggrieved families during league matches of 5th World Cup Kabbadi and observed two minute silence to mourn the brutal killings of school kids by terrorists in Peshawar town.
Clarke’s surgery successful
Melbourne: Michael Clarke's injury-ravaged cricket career may not be as jeopardised as initially feared with the Australian captain and team physiotherapist Alex Kountouris on Wednesday saying that the surgery to fix his hamstring injury went "really well", giving him a good chance of being fit for the World Cup. Clarke tore his right hamstring during the first Test against India in Adelaide, a match he went into under an injury cloud given his long history of recurring back complaints. Kountouris said the successful surgery gave Clarke a good chance of recovery from the hamstring mishap. "Thanks for all the well wishes. Surgery went really well. The Aust Physio @Alex_Kountouris will update the media this afternoon," Clarke wrote on his twitter handle. He added, "A few days of rest and recover and watch the boys play well from my bed."
Bouncer cracks Tiwary's helmet
Kolkata: Bengal's premier batsman Manoj Tiwary, who is one of India's 30 probables for the World Cup, had a close shave after being hit by an Abhimanyu Mithun rising delivery on the final day of his team's Ranji Trophy match against Karnataka at the Eden Gardens. It was the first ball of the 39th over when Tiwary took off his eyes to Mithun's bouncer which in turn hit the back of his helmet, much to the horror of the visiting Karnataka players. In a state of shock, all the players including Mithun from the High Court end went up to Tiwary and the Bengal physio also came in. Thankfully, unlike in Australian batsman Phil Hughes' case, the ball hit Tiwary's brand new white helmet and it seemed to have cracked, forcing a replacement. Tiwary incidentally had opted for a white helmet but after the hit he went back his blue helmet.
Kolkata in ISl final
Margao: Atletico de Kolkata got their act right in the nick of time to humble crowd favourites FC Goa 4-2 in tie-breaker and advance to the final of the inaugural Indian Super league (ISl) football here on Wednesday. Atletico de Kolkata will lock horns with Kerala Blasters FC in the summit showdown at the D Y Patil Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday. The second leg semifinal between the two fierce rivals went into extra time after they were locked goal-less in the regulation time. With both teams failing to break the deadlock even in the 30 minutes of extra time, the game was decided via penalty shootout in which the visitors emerged winners. The first leg semifinal between the two sides in Kolkata had ended in a goal-less stalemate. Things panned out pretty much in the same manner before the Sourav Ganguly co-owned side edged past the hosts on penalties after playing out yet another drab draw in the 120 minutes of play. While they failed to score in regulation and extra time, Atletico de Kolkata's Josemi, Mohammed Rafi, Jofre Mateu and Borja Fernandez were bang on target when it mattered most at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. For the Goa outfit, Andre Santos's spot-kick sailed over the bar while Haroon Amiri's effort struck the upright. Tolgay Ozbey and Clifford Miranda successfully converted but that was not enough.