48 wrestlers for Intnl C'Ship
Hisar: Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has selected 48 grapplers, including 16 women, to represent the country at the senior Asian Wrestling Championship in Doha from May 5-10 and the Commonwealth Wrestling Championship in Toronto from June 5-7. The tournaments will include both freestyle and Greco-roman categories. According to a WFI spokesman here on Sunday, the trials for men's team were held at lucknow while the women's trials were held at Sonepat in Haryana. Wrestlers who got the first place in their weight category are eligible to participate in the Senior Asian Championship while those who were first and second in their weight categories will participate in the Commonwealth Championship, the WFI spokesman said.
India finish 7th in Hawk's Bay Cup
New Delhi: The Indian women's hockey team beat Japan 3-2 to finish seventh in the Hawkes's Bay Cup in New Zealand. India had also beaten Japan to win the bronze at the 2014 Asian Games. Japan led 1-0 by first quarter and doubled their lead soon after to put pressure on India. India were forced to attack more and in the 28th minute they found success as Sushila Pukhrambam slammed the ball past the goalie. The third session proved to be a dry one with no goals being scored, making the last fifteen minutes very important for India. They scored two consecutive goals in a matter of three minutes to seal the tie.
Narain gets podium at Suzuka
Suzuka (Japan): Narain Karthikeyan overcame a sluggish start to finish third in the season opener of the Japan-based Super Formula Championship here on Sunday, sealing his first ever podium in the fastest single seater series outside Formula 1. Karthikeyan, starting from second on the grid, lost three places on the opening lap before recovering to finish third in the 43-lap race at the famous Suzuka Circuit. Three-time le Mans winner Andre lotterer won the race, 9.4 seconds ahead of 2014 champion Kazuki Nakajima. It was a welcome result for the 38-year-old Indian, who endured a tough opening season last year when he finished 13th in the Championship with five points. The Championship moves to the Okayama International Circuit on May 23-24.
Three walkers qualify for rio
New Delhi: Three Indian race walkers — Khushbir Kaur, Manish Rawat and Sandeep Kumar — on Sunday qualified for next year's Rio Olympics after creditable performances in the IAAF Race Walking Challenge at Rio Maior in Portugal. National women's 20km walk record holder Khushbir Kaur clocked 1:33:58, better than Rio 2016 qualification time of 1:35, though she finished 13th in the race. In the men's 20km race walk, Manish Rawat logged a personal best performance to finish in top 10 with a timing of 1:22:50, well above Rio Games qualification time of 1:24. National 50km race walk record holder Sandeep Kumar also qualified for Rio Games with a 14th-place finish in 1:23:32 though he received one warning.
Phelps quickest in 100m
Mesa (Arizona): Michael Phelps felt something coming off the wall in the 100-meter freestyle, a sensation he hadn't experienced since training four months ago. It was like a switch flipped in the 18-time Olympic gold medalist. He zoomed off the wall, rallying from last to win in 49.72 seconds on Saturday night in his comeback from a six-month suspension.