Indian lifters bag 14 medals
New Delhi: Indian weightlifters ended their campaign on a high by bagging a total of 14 medals, including six gold in the 17th Asian Youth (boys & girls), 22nd Junior Women and 29th Junior Men Asian Weightlifting Championships at Doha, Qatar. Even those six lifters, who failed to make it to the podium, finished within the top six positions in their respective body weight categories. India won silver on the last day of the competition on Monday as Swapna Priya Baruah ended second in the Junior Women 69kg division. On Sunday, Ragala Venkat Rahul clinched gold in Junior Men 85kg with a total lift of 324kg -143kg in snatch and 181kg clean & jerk. India won maximum number of gold in Youth Boys division; bagging the yellow metal in all three categories the lifters took part.
Cilic in doubt for Aus Open
Zagreb, (Croatia): US Open champion Marin Cilic says his participation in the Australian Open is in doubt because of a right shoulder injury. The ninth-ranked Croatian said Monday “considering the full recovery and opportunity for practice, it is highly questionable if I will be able to play.” Cilic says he still did not withdraw officially from the Grand Slam tournament that starts Jan. 19 in Melbourne “since there is still a week or so left to see how things will develop.” Cilic, who has had the injury for the past six months, defeated Roger Federer and Kei Nishikori to win his first Grand Slam title in New York in September. He withdrew from several tournaments since, including this week’s Brisbane International.
Sharath Kamal lights up day 1
New Delhi: Sharath Kamal-led Indian Oil beat Bharat Petroleum 3-1 on the opening day of the 34th PSPB Inter Unit Table Tennis Tournament here on Monday. Sharath Kamal, India’s highest-ranked player for a longtime, beat the rising Soumyajit Ghosh 3-1. The world number 50 also defeated reigning national champion Sanil Shetty 3-0 on way to his team’s victory. In the biggest upset of the day, 15-year-old Manav Thakkar of Hindustan Petroleum beat former national champion Anthony Amalraj of ONGC 3-2. However Thakkar’s team lost 1-3 to ONGC. In an exciting women’s match, India number two Mouma Das of OIl lost to K Shamini of India Oil 1-3. Eventually Indian Oil prevailed over OIl 3-2. In another exciting game, current women’s national champion, Ankita Das of ONGC beat veteran Poulomi Ghatak of Bharat Petroleum 3-1.
WI bowled out for 215 by SA
Cape Town: Simon Harmer and Dale Steyn shared seven wickets as South Africa bowled the West Indies out for 215 on a rain-hit fourth day of the third test at Newlands on Monday. Harmer took 4-82 and claimed the key wicket of top-scorer Marlon Samuels (74), which helped South Africa run through the West Indian middle and lower order and leave the host needing just 124 runs to win the match and the series. Steyn found a hint of reverse swing to clean up the tail and record figures of 3-75, while Morne Morkel picked up the first wicket of the day and finished with 2-18 in 14 overs. Shivnarine Chanderpaul was the last batsman to fall, as he was run out for 50.
NZ rally to take 118-run lead
Wellington: Kane Williamson made 80 and B.J. Watling 48 in an unbroken 94-run partnership that rallied New Zealand to a 118-run lead over Sri lanka on the third day of the second test on Monday. New Zealand was 253-5 at stumps, after trailing Sri lanka by 135 runs on the first innings. Nuwan Pradeep captured 3-57 to bowl the tourists into a winning position, but then dropped Williamson when he was on 60, giving New Zealand a break that could save its match.
Jean-Pierre Beltoise dies at 77
Paris: Jean-Pierre Beltoise, a former Monaco Grand Prix winner, has died after a double stroke. He was 77. The French automobile federation said Monday that Beltoise, who won the prestigious Formula One race in 1972, died at his vacation home in Dakar, Senegal. Beltoise started his racing career in motorcycling. He turned to car racing and, in 1967, reached F1 despite breaking his left arm badly in a crash. His best F1 season was in 1969, when he finished fifth driving a Matra. Beltoise retired from F1 in 1974, but continued his career in sports car racing and the French touring cars series.
Bhuvanesh secures 2nd norm
Chennai: International Master Ramnath Bhuvanesh (7 points) secured his second GM norm as he played out a draw with fellow IM Swapnil Dhopade in the ninth round, of the 7th Chennai International Open Grandmaster Chess Tournament, here on Monday. Bhuvanesh now shares the lead with six other players with Popov Ivan (Russia), Dzhumaev Marat (Uzbekistan), Mozharov Mikhail (Russia), Swapnil S Dhopade (India), Gasanov Eldar (Ukraine) and Ravichandran Siddharth (India). Trailing the leaders by half a point at 6.5 points were Cruz Cristhian (Peru), Brunello Sabino (Italy), Baryshpolets Andrey (Ukraine), Nguyen Duc Hoa (Vietnam), Karthikeyan Murali, Sayantan Das, Prasanna Raghuram Rao, Visakh NR (all India).
IOC mourns Zhenliang He
Paris: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Monday announced that veteran Chinese sports administrator Zhenliang He, credited with playing a major role in China’s return to the Olympic fold, had died. Zhenliang was 85. “A career politician, Mr He was instrumental in bringing China back into the Olympic movement,” said an IOC statement. “He was elected as an IOC Member in 1981, serving in the role until 2010, when he became IOC Honorary Member.
Muller survives French fight
Chennai: last year's finalist Eduard Roger-Vasselin went down fighting to eighth seed Gilles Muller 7-6 (11), 1-6, 6-7 (3) in an entertaining and high quality first round match of the ATP-Aircel Chennai Open here Monday. Muller, the 31-year-old southpaw from luxembourg and ranked 42, survived two tough tie-breaks, while Roger-Vasselin, after taking the first set, gradually faded against an opponent who improved as the two-hour and 23-minute match progressed. On the outside court, Spaniard Marcel Granollers became the first casualty as the seventh seed retired in the third set against Austrian Andreas Haider-Maurer who was leading 3-6, 7-6(6), 2-0. Muller's enviable variations in his serves besides aggression made the difference while Roger-Vasselin failed to sustain the high standards he had displayed in the first set and parts of the third before committing a double fault on the very first match-point.