Muhammad Ali back in hospital
lOUISVIllE, Kentucky: Muhammad Ali was back in the hospital Thursday for follow-up care related to a severe urinary tract infection, his second stint in the hospital in the past four weeks. The three-time former heavyweight champion was admitted to an undisclosed hospital earlier this week, Ali family spokesman Bob Gunnell said Thursday. Ali is in stable condition. Ali was hospitalized on Dec. 20 with what was initially believed to be a mild case of pneumonia. Doctors later determined Ali was suffering from a urinary tract infection, not pneumonia, Gunnell said. "There were still issues with the urinary tract infection," he said of the latest hospitalization.
Advani, Sitwala set up summit clash
Kolkata: Pankaj Advani and Dhruv Sitwala registered contrasting wins to set up a summit clash in the Senior National Billiards Championship at the Bengal Rowing Club here on Friday. Holder of 12 world titles, Advani had a minor blip as he lost two frames but he held his composure en-route to a 4-2 win over Siddharth Parikh of Railways. The second semifinal went to the deciding seventh frame, as Mumbai lad Sitwala faced stiff resistance from B Bhaskar of Tamil Nadu. It was a neck-and-neck tussle with Bhaskar playing the catching up game and holding Sitwala every time he took a lead. The two were locked 3-3 to take the contest to the deciding seventh frame. Trailing 20-127 in the decider, the Petroleum Sports Promotion Board employee held his nerve as he posted a break of 127 to post a nerve-wracking 4-3 victory.
Ice Hockey rink at 3,484 metres
New Delhi: The Hockey Foundation has partnered with financial conglomerate Sun life to hold an ice hockey tournament at Karzoo in leh on January 17-18 with the ice rink situated 3,484 metres above sea level. The $20,000 sponsorship will see coaches impart education of the sport in leh, Delhi and Mumbai.
Sindhu, Jayaram reach semifinals
Kuching (Malaysia): Top Indian shuttlers P V Sindhu and Ajay Jayaram notched up contrasting victories in the women's and men's singles competition respectively to reach the semifinals of the $120,000 Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold, here on Friday. Two-time World Championship bronze medallist, Sindhu defeated Thailand's Porntip Buranaprasertsuk, seeded fifth, 23-21, 21-9 in a 37-minute match to set up a clash with fourth seed Nozomi Okuhara of Japan. Jayaram, who clinched the Dutch Open last year, saw off Malaysia's Daren liew 21-16, 21-23, 21-8 in a gruelling contest that went on for 56 minutes. It was, however, curtains for Commonwealth Games champion and third seed Parupalli Kashyap, who suffered a 21-13, 17-21, 13-21 loss to Zi liang Derek Wong of Singapore in another men's singles match.
srcc win, enter semis
New Delhi: On Day two of the Delhi University Inter College Squash Tournament being held at the St Stephen’s College Gymnasium, Squash Courts, Sri Ram College of Commerce cruised to a comfortable victory over Ramjas College. With this win SRCC secured the second position in Pool A, behind defending champions St. Stephen’s College.
The quintet of Zulfikar Ali, Rohan, Sujal, Aditya and Shubham Gupta (Captain) from Sri Ram College of Commerce were on cruise control from the first game and took a little over an hour to pocket 3 valuable points and book a berth in the Semi Finals.
ric, Caldas win fih awards
lausanne (Switzerland): Former Australia coach Ric Charlesworth and former Dutch coach Max Caldas were awarded the inaugural Coach of the Year for the men's and women's team respectively, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) said here on Friday. Charlesworth had retired from international hockey coaching; a day after his Kookaburra team lifted the World Cup in The Hague, in June. Caldas, former Argentinian international took over as head coach to the Netherland's women in 2010, although he had been assistant coach when they won gold at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. The team repeated this feat under Caldas's control at the 2012 london Olympics and then added a Hockey World league gold in 2013 and World Cup gold in 2014.
constantine new india boss
New Delhi: Englishman Stephen Constantine was on Friday appointed head coach of Indian men's football team, paving the way for his return at the helm of affairs for the second time. 52-year-old Constantine, who is also be the coach of the India Under-23 national team, is expected to take charge from the first week of next month. He has reportedly been offered a three-year contract by the All India Football Federation. Constantine was India coach from 2002 till 2005, during which the national team won the lG Cup in Vietnam and finished runners-up in the Afro Asian Games. He was the head coach of the Rwanda national team before he was offered the India job.