ARCHERS TO TAKE PART IN NRAT
Hyderabad: Top Indian archers, including Olympian Deepika Kumari will be competing in various categories of the Tata National Ranking Archery tournament (NRAT), commencing here on Thursday. “Top archers of the country including Olympians, World Cuppers and Asian Games medal winners, both in Recurve and Compound division will be participating in the first NRAT of this year, which will be held from February 12 to 19,” Anil Kamineni, the Archery Association of India secretary general, told reporters here on Wednesday. The tournament will be conducted for both men and women in senior, junior and sub-junior categories at Peoples Plaza here. “This year (2015) is very important as qualification for Olympics will be held. The Youth World championship is scheduled in June in United States while the World Senior championship will be played in July in Denmark,” he added.
ASIAN CUP TT C’SHIP IN JAIPUR
Jaipur: The city is all set to host the prestigious 28th Asian Cup Table Tennis Championship from March 13 to 15. The mega event would have a prize money of USD $1,00,000 and would attract top paddlers from the globe including world number 1 and 2 in women's section from China and also world no.2 in men's section. “Top players from China include world no. 1 and 2 in the women's section besides no. 2 male paddler Xu Xin and Nan Jing youth Olympic champion Fan Zhendong.” “The Indian team will have a four-day camp after arriving here on March 9 while the foreign players will start reaching by March 11.”
GAUTAM GAMBHIR TO lEAD DElHI
New Delhi: Gautam Gambhir was on Wednesday named the captain of the Delhi team for the knockout 2014-15 of the Ranji Trophy cricket tournament. The Ranji Trophy selection committee, which met at the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) here on Wednesday, released the list of 15-member squad to be led by India discard Gambhir. The Delhi team, which qualified for the knockout stage after finishing on top of Group B table, will now take on Mumbai in the quarterfinals of the Ranji Trophy, to be held in Cuttack from February 16 to 20. Besides Gambhir, the team will feature another India discard Virender Sehwag. Squad: Gautam Gambhir (capt), Virender Sehwag, Unmukt Chand, Milind Kumar, Mithun Manhas, Rajat Bhatia, Vaibhav Rawal, Rahul Yadav (wk), Sumit Narwal, Parvinder Awana, Varun Sood, Shivam Sharma, Pradeep Sangwan, Manan Sharma, Vikas Tokas.
2022 CWG TO BE HElD IN DURBAN
Edmonton: The South African city of Durban was the only candidate left to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games, and the first in Africa, after Edmonton withdrew its bid because of economic insecurity. Edmonton and Commonwealth Games Canada said they will instead focus on bidding for the 2026 Commonwealth Games. Edmonton’s decision left Durban, on South Africa’s east coast, as the only option for 2022. The winning city will be formally announced in September. Durban's intention to host the Commonwealth Games has been viewed as preparation for a possible South African bid to host the Olympics, either in 2024 or 2028. Africa has never hosted the Olympics.2022 Commonwealth Games,” bid chairman Reg Milley said. Edmonton hosted the games in 1978. The next Commonwealth Games in 2018 will be held on the Gold Coast, Australia.
lAHIRI lOOKS AHEAD IN THAIlAND
Hua Hin (Thailand): Indian golfer Anirban lahiri is determined to scale greater heights when he takes his place as the highest ranked player at the inaugural $2 million Thailand Classic that tees off Thursday.
The 27-year-old, ranked 37th in the world, is enjoying one of the best times of his career, having claimed his biggest victory in Malaysia last week. Voted as the Players’ Player of the Year in 2014, lahiri’s latest triumph was his sixth win on Asian Tour and third victory in 10 months. It was also his first win on the European Tour. “It’s a very exciting period for me right now. I’m playing well and one of the many goals that I’ve set for myself is to crack the top-50 and that win last week has made it possible,” said lahiri. lahiri is not planning to rest on his laurels and is determined for a greater push up the world order, starting with another assured performance at the Black Mountain Golf Club this week.