CONSTANTINE CHOOSES 26
New Delhi: Indian football team head coach Stephen Constantine on Friday left out 12 players to prune the probables for the back-to-back 2018 World Cup Preliminary Joint Qualification matches against Oman and Guam before leaving for Bengaluru for the final preparatory camp there. The squad proceeded to Bengaluru after some intense training sessions at the Ambedkar Stadium here. The list would be further pruned to 23 when the final squad is announced for the two matches. India take on Oman at the Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on June 11 while the next match against Guam will be played in Guam on June 16. India have been clubbed in Group D along with Iran, Oman, Turkmenistan and Guam.
JEEV HANGS IN ON THE CUT lINE
Malmo (Sweden): Indian golfer Jeev Milkha Singh struggled to a one-over 73 in the second round of the Nordea Masters here on Friday, but kept alive his chances of making the weekend action. The veteran Indian, who has won four times on European Tour, but not since the Scottish Open in 2012, is now even par 144 for 36 holes after a first round 71. His colleague Shiv Kapur will however find it difficult to slip inside the cut line as he added a 74 to his first round 72. Daniel Chopra, the Indo-Swede missed the cut with rounds of 71 and 78. Jeev starting on the tenth had seven straight pars, before his first bogey and it was followed by another at second at which point he was in danger of going down further.
RETURN TO REFUEllING IN DOUBT
Montreal: A proposed return to refuelling in Formula One was cast in doubt Friday after a meeting of team bosses offered no support for the proposal. The plan came from a meeting of the F1 Strategy Group last month. It was one of several ideas put forward as the sport began work on halting a slump in spectator interest and viewing figures. Paddock sources said that Thursday’s talks had concluded that a return to refuelling would not add any real spectacle to the show. Cost and safety considerations were also taken into account. The lack of support is a blow to the viability of the F1 Strategy Group which has been criticised by F1 commercial ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone and team bosses. Ecclestone made it clear last week that he felt the group was suffocated by the involvement of the sport’s leading teams, leading to inertia.
ATK SIGN IAIN HUME
Kolkata: Atletico de Kolkata on Friday announced the signing of Canadian forward Iain Hume, the reigning ISl football tournament champions’ first foreign recruit for the upcoming season. The Scottish-born former Canadian international, who represented last season’s runners-up Kerala Blasters FC, had impressed by scoring five goals. “I look forward to work with Hume this year. His last year’s performance and club commitments surely must be keeping him match ready when we embark on our quest for the title defence,” ATK head coach Antonio lopez Habas said in a statement. Team co-owner Sanjiv Goenka said they’re looking forward to get the best possible line-up with Hume on board.
FORMER NZ RUGBY PlAYER DIES
Wellington: Former New Zealand rugby player Jerry Collins and his wife Alana have died in a car crash in France. A bus collided with their car, and their two-month-old daughter survived but is in serious condition, reports bbc.com on Friday. 34-year-old Collins made his debut in 2001 and won 48 caps. The flanker had been playing for French side Narbonne. The New Zealand national rugby union team, officially nicknamed the All Blacks, said on Twitter that they are “shocked and saddened” by the news. “We are shocked and saddened by reports about the accident involving Jerry,” All Blacks tweeted.