Hockey team starts training
New Delhi: Indian hockey team on Friday began the preparation for the upcoming Test series against Japan but coach Paul van Ass has FIH Hockey World league semi-final in mind as the players fine-tuned their skills in a practice session, here. The India-Japan Test Series is scheduled from 03 to 09 May 2015 in Bhubaneswar. Coach Paul van Ass worked with the team, overlooking the session. “For the last few days, we have been working hard with FIH Hockey World league semi-final keeping in mind. We know there will tough teams we are going to face but nothing is impossible for our team. This preparation camp and the upcoming Japan Series will be very important for us.
Nishikori beats Bautista Agut
Barcelona: Defending champion Kei Nishikori made his way into the semifinals of the Barcelona Open by holding off Roberto Bautista Agut 6-2, 3-6, 6-1on Friday. After the top-seeded Nishikori won the first set easily, Bautista Agut rebounded in the second and got his first break. He then saved three break points in his final service game before using two big serves to force the third set.
Nishikori re-established his ground game to take a 3-1 lead before winning the last three games.
Anand beats Adams, jumps to 2nd
Shamkir: Viswanathan Anand crashed through the defences of Michael Adams of England to jump to sole second spot in the Shamkir Chess 2015 tournament, here on Friday. It was sheer power and simplicity from Anand that saw him cruise to his second win in the strongest tournament of the year and the Indian ace can now train his sight to catch world champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway in the last two remaining rounds. Carlsen meanwhile defeated Vladimir Kramnik of Russia to take his tally up to 5.5 points out of a possible seven. This was Norwegian’s fourth victory in seven games and the way it came might have sent warning signals to team Kramnik.
Kapur slips to tied 15th
Shanghai: Indian golfer Shiv Kapur was left ruing his back-to-back bogeys in the final holes on back nine as he fall behind to tied 15th at the midway stage of the Volvo China Open here on Friday. Kapur, who was going steady at two-under through 16 holes and was inside Top-10, finished with a even-par 72 that saw him placed
at tied 15th after being seventh at the end of the opening day. Kapur’s colleague SSP Chawrasia, however, fell by the wayside after a second successive 76 and missed the cut.
NRAI amends selection policy
New Delhi: Faced with criticism from top marksmen, the National Rifle Association of India today amended its selection policy for rifle and pistol shooters for next year’s Rio Olympic Games under which their scores from major international competitions starting from this year’s first World Cup will be taken into consideration. As per the amended policy which will give a leeway to those who compete in more international events, the scores of shooters starting from this year’s first World Cup right upto Asian Championships in November will be considered while selecting the rifle/pistol team
for 2016 Rio Games. “The scores of all World Cups in 2015 in all Rifle/Pistol events, World Cup Finals 2015 in Rifle/Pistol events, Asian Shooting Championship in November 2015 in Rifle/Pistol events and 8th Asian Airgun Championship September 2015 will mandatorily be considered for the purpose of calculating average score,” the NRAI said in a release.
Pressure on Schumacher Jnr
Berlin: Michael Schumacher’s 16-year-old son starts his Formula Four career this weekend under the pressure of living up to the famous family name of the seven-time Formula One world champion. After a successful karting career, Mick Schumacher Jnr has joined the Dutch Van Amersfoort Racing team in Europe’s ADAC Formula Four for the season which starts at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben.
Ongc in semis
New Delhi: Sparkling knock by Mayank Tehlan 65 and fine bowling by Praveen Gupta 3/16 enabled ONGC beat Indian Air Force by 99 runs to enter the semi-final of 25th All-India Om Nath Sood Memorial Cricket Tournament being played at R.S.K.P. Grounds, here on Friday.
Adam available for Sunderland
Sunderland: England international Adam Johnson has been called up by Sunderland for a Premier league game, a day after he was charged with three offenses of sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl and one of grooming. Sunderland manager Dick Advocaat says he will make a decision on whether to involve Johnson in Saturday’s match against Stoke after talking to the winger. Advocaat says on Friday “in principle, if he feels OK, then he will be a member of the (matchday) squad. Johnson was initially suspended by Sunderland after his arrest on March 2, before being reinstated by the club.
Babu’s body reaches home
Hyderabad: The body of top Indian mountaineer Malli Mastan Babu, who died while scaling a mountain between Argentina and Chile, was brought home on Friday. He will be cremated on Saturday in his native village in Andhra Pradesh. The body reached Delhi airport from Buenos Aires early Friday and was flown to Chennai in the afternoon. Mastan Babu’s body will be taken by road to Gandhijana Sangam village in Nellore district.