Watson donates $9,250 to charity
Bangkok: Masters Tournament champion Bubba Watson has showed his generosity by donating all his prize earnings at the recent Thailand Golf Championship to the Thongchai Jaidee Foundation. The 36-year-old Watson, who has forged a strong friendship with three-time Asian Tour number one Thongchai over the years, extended his gesture as a way to help young golfers and children in need in Thailand. Thongchai Friday said: "It's my pleasure to announce this lovely news to all the golf fans here. On Sunday, Bubba expressed to me his willingness to donate all his prize money won at Thailand Golf Championship amounting to $9,250 to the Thongchai Jaidee Foundation."
Boxer to donate shorts
london: English professional boxer Amir Khan has said he will donate a pair of shorts worth 30,000 pounds to help rebuild the Peshawar army school where 148 children and staff were killed by the Taliban this week. The British boxer, who is of Pakistani origin, wore the shorts, which has a waistband made from 24-carat gold threading, in his points win against Devon Alexander to successfully defend his World Boxing Council's Silver welterweight title in las Vegas recently.
Dutee cleared for national games
New Delhi: Indian athlete Dutee Chand has been cleared to participate in next year's National Games after the Court of Arbitration allowed her to compete pending a final decision on her appeal against the IAAF's hyperandrogenism policy, which bars female athletes having higher level of male hormones. This is an interim order and has opened the doors for Dutee to participate in the National Games to be held in Kerala from January 31 to February 14. It may be recalled that Dutee was disqualified by the Athletics Federation of India as per IAAF's hyperandrogenism policy after tests revealed that her androgen levels were higher than normal.
40K runners for Mumbai Marathon
Mumbai: A total of 40,485 runners will take part in the 2015 Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon (SCMM), to be held Jan 18. While registration for the half marathon category got oversubscribed and closed in only seven days after opening, the full marathon, DHl Corporate Champions and Champions with Disability race categories also experienced a surge in registrations, according to a release. The 42.197 km marathon event has received 4325 entries, 725 more than last year, while the half marathon will have 14321 participants compared to 14200 last year. A total of 20050 individuals will take part in the Dream Run, 1175 participants above the age of sixty will be seen in the Senior Citizens' Run and 290 runners will participate in the Champions with Disability event.
French Open unveils 2015 poster
Paris: French Open organisers have unveiled the 2015 Roland-Garro poster, while its designer Du Zhenjun has become the first Chinese artist in 35 years to create a work of art for the Grand Slam tennis tournament. The 2015 French Open poster depicts a player serving to begin a point, the shot so crisp and powerful that the ball almost seems to rip right through the canvas, reports Xinhua.
Abidal cuts short playing career
Athens: Former France and Barcelona defender Eric Abidal announced his retirement from football on Friday, a day before his last match. Abidal said he will finish after playing for Olympiakos against Kalloni on Saturday, with 18 months left on his contract. He cited personal reasons for stopping, without elaborating. Abidal played at two World Cups for France, and won the Champions league twice with Barcelona. There, he was diagnosed with a liver tumor in early 2011, and had a liver transplant a year later. He was back in action for Barcelona at the end of the 2012-13 season. He returned to Monaco for last season, and signed with Olympiakos in July.
Tejaswini bags gold in Nationals
Pune: Former world champion and double Commonwealth Games gold medalist Tejaswini Sawant of Maharashtra won both the individual and team titles in the women's 50m rifle prone event at the 58th National Shooting Championships here on Friday. Tejaswini shot a total of 622 in the final rounds to edge out Elizabeth Susan Koshy of Kerala who finished a point behind in the individual event. Army markswoman Raj Chaudhary ended third with a score of 616 at the Balewadi Shooting Range. In the men's 25m Rapid Fire Pistol event, Haryana's Harpreet Singh struck gold shooting a total of 22 in the six-man final series, finishing ahead of Neeraj Kumar (21) and Gurpreet Singh (19), both representing the Indian Army.
shiv kapur tied at top
Dubai: India's Shiv Kapur Friday fired a superb six-under 66 to share the lead with Thai Pavit Tangkamolprasert while Arjun Atwal and Gaganjeet Bhullar finished joint third after the second round of the $500,000 Dubai Open golf here. Shiv, who triumphed here on the European Challenge Tour at the end of last season, maintained his love affair with the vibrant city, holing out for a stunning two from the fairway at the par-four first hole before adding five more birdies against one bogey at the par-72 Els Club Dubai. Newly crowned Asian Development Tour number one Pavit continued to show his potential with a battling 70 which tied Shiv on seven-under 137, one ahead of Indian duo Atwal (65) and Bhullar (69), Scotsman Simon Yates (67)and Korean teenager Wang Jeung-hun (67) in what is the final tournament of the 2014 Asian Tour season.
Swimmer bhakti gets sponsor
New Delhi: Open water swimmer Bhakti Sharma will be financially backed in her swimming efforts by Vedanta company Hindustan Zinc for a year, a release said on Friday. Bhakti will be promoting open water swimming and will also train girls in swimming leagues during the year she will be sponsored. Bhakti is preparing to swim 2.5 kilometres in the Antarctic Ocean in January next year. If she succeeds, she will set a world record, breaking South African lewis Pugh's mark of 1 km. The company also sponsored Krishna Poonia, Jabbar Ali and limbaram. Agencies