Bopanna-Mergea advance to semis
Stuttgart: Indo-Romanian tennis pair of Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea won in straight sets to enter the men’s doubles semifinals at the Stuttgart Open here on Thursday. The fourth seeds beat Croat-New Zealand pair of Mate Pavic and Michael Venus 7-6(5), 6-2 on the grass courts of the Tennis Club Weissenhof. They will next take on the winner of the match between German-Austrian combine of Dustin Brown and Andreas Haider-Maurer and Polish-Serbian second seeds Marcin Matkowski and Nenad Zimonjic.
Saina climbs to number 2
New Delhi: In the latest BWF’s world ranking release on Thursday, Parupalli Kashyap rose two places to grab the 10th spot in men’s singles ranking. Compatriot K Srikanth continued to be the best-placed Indian male shuttler at the third position, while Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal, too, improved a place to reach the second spot in women’s singles ranking. P V Sindhu remained static at 14th. Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa also surged ahead to reach the 15th spot in the women’s doubles category.
3 Austrian swimmers hit by bus
Baku (Azerbaijan): Three teenage synchronized swimmers from Austria were injured Thursday when they were hit by a shuttle bus in the athletes village on the eve of the inaugural European Games, Austrian Olympic officials said. Two of the three girls — all 15 years old — were being flown home to Austria after being treated in the intensive care unit at a Baku hospital. The third was released with minor injuries. The Austrian Olympic Committee said Vanessa Sahinovic had multiple fractures and other severe injuries, while luna Pajer received arm injuries. Verena Breit “got off lightly with slight injuries,” the committee said. “The girls were walking on the sidewalk of the Olympic Village when a shuttle bus hit them,” the Austrian committee said, adding that the incident happened at 8:30 a.m.
Kowli to attend ioc’s youth forum
Bengaluru: Maharashtra boxing official Jay Kowli has been nominated by world boxing body AIBA to attend the 7th IOC International Athletes’ and Youth Forum in lausanne in October. “We are pleased to confirm that you have been nominated by AIBA to participate in the 7th IOC International Athletes’ & Youth Forum. We are delighted to invite you to attend the Forum in lausanne from October 8 to 11, 2015,” he has been informed by the Coordination Officer, Commissions and Projects, Sports Department of the International Olympic Committee. “The Forum presents a great opportunity for you to discuss important athlete & youth-related topics with your peers and IOC Athletes’ Commission members,” the communication added. Kowli is the only person in AIBA to have been given this responsibility for three successive terms: 2006-2010, 2010- 2014 and 2014-2018.
SAI athlete regrets suicide attempt
New Delhi: The teenaged Sports Authority of India (SAI) athlete, who tried to commit suicide, expressed regret at his conduct on Thursday, revealing that he was “mentally tensed” which compelled him to attempt taking his own life. Kerala’s 18-year-old Nithin U., who won bronze in 2014 Youth National Championship, tried to commit suicide early on Wednesday at a SAI hostel in Thiruvananthapuram by slashing his wrist. He was taken to hospital from where he slipped away, police said. He is in a stable condition now. “Nithin has given a written statement stating that he felt mentally tense thinking about upcoming competitions and hurt his wrist when he banged it against a broken glass window pane,” a SAI release said on Thursday.
Mourinho banned from driving
london: A British court has banned Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho from driving for six months after he was caught speeding. The Portuguese coach pleaded guilty to the offense but was not at the hearing at Staines Magistrates’ Court in Surrey on Wednesday. Mourinho was ordered to pay 910 pounds ($1,406) in fines and court costs because of the incident in September.
ISl player auction on July 10
Mumbai: The player auction for the second edition of the Indian Super league will occur on July 10, a statement from the organisers said on Thursday. Ten Indian footballers, including Sunil Chhetri, have been identified who will feature in the auction. The ten footballers in the auction list missed out on the inaugural season of the ISl last year owing to their individual contracts with their respective I-league clubs. Six of the ten players are free agents while four others have been loaned from two I-league clubs — Jackichand Singh and Seityasen Singh from Royal Wahingdoh FC and Rino Anto and Eugeneson lyngdoh from Bengaluru FC. Among the 10 players, Chhetri commands the highest base price at `80 lakh, followed by goalkeeper Karanjeet Singh at `60 lakh.