Kapur struggles in third round
Rabat (Morocco): Shiv Kapur, who managed to make the cut despite a triple bogey on the second day, struggled on Saturday and crashed to a round of 79 at the Trophee Hassan II on the European Tour here. Kapur, who was tied 35 after two rounds is now tied 69th at eight-over 224. His round of 79 began with a birdie on second, but thereafter he had four bogeys in a row from fifth to ninth and then four more on back nine. Francesco laporta will take a one-shot lead into the weekend after a round of 70 on the tough Red Course at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam. The Italian rookie came into day two with a share of the lead at four under and followed his opening 68 with another impressive effort to move a shot ahead of Australia’s Jason Scrivener, Spaniard Borja Virto Astudillo and South Korea’s Jeunghun Wang.
Srikanth to skip Thomas Cup
New Delhi: Having qualifying for the Rio Olympics after a hectic schedule last month, India’s top shuttler K Srikanth has decided to skip the BWF Thomas Cup, starting on May 15 in Kunshan, China. “No, I’m not playing. I need to be at my best for Indonesia Open. So after the hectic schedule, will take a break to train and prepare for the Olympics,” Srikanth told PTI. With Srikanth sitting out, the onus will be on the other two top players -- Ajay Jayaram and H S Prannoy -- to carry the Indian flag in the Team championship. Also in the team will be B Sai Praneeth an.d Sameer Verma. Three singles and two doubles will be played during the Thomas Cup. Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy, who became the first Indian men’s doubles pair to qualify for the Olympics after the BWF World ranking were published on Thursday, will lead the doubles challenge.
Cameroon’s Ekeng dies during league game
Bucharest: Cameroonian international Patrick Ekeng has died after collapsing on the pitch during a match with his Romanian club Dinamo Bucharest, the club has confirmed. The 26-year-old defensive midfielder fell to the ground without any contact with another player just seven minutes after coming on as a substitute during the league game against Viitorul Constanta on Friday. Ekeng, who joined the Romanian club in January, was rushed to hospital where staff were unable to resuscitate him. “Resuscitation attempts were made for an hour and half without success,” Dinamo team doctor liviu Paltinean told journalists.
Pathan, Uthappa meet cancer patients
Kolkata: Battling life-threatening cancer, two-year-old Anirban Debnath and 14-year-old Rinki Mondal on Saturday inspired the likes of Robin Uthappa and Yusuf Pathan, the two star cricketers of two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders. Yusuf was seen chatting with Murshidabad girl Rinki, while Uthappa took Howrah’s Anriban on his lap as the KKR duo along with Sheldon Jackson and team CEO Venky Mysore spent some quality time, spreading some words of encouragement with 34 kids in the age group of one to 14 years at the St Jude India Child Care Centre in Rajarhat in the outskirts of city. “It was a humbling experience, these kids provide a lot of inspiration. We are here to empower them overcome this hurdle and the kids have shown lot of charcater and beleif,” Uthappa said.
‘Good support system vital to mould talent’
Pune: Emphasising on the importance of good family background in a sportsman’s career, cricket legend Kapil Dev on Saturday said such a support system helps mould top talents into stars. The 1983 World Cup-winning skipper compared retired batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar and his talented school mate and fellow cricketer Vinod Kambli to buttress his point while speaking at the felicitation ceremony of the parents of successful sportspersons here. “They both started together and were equally talented. Kambli, maybe, was more talented, but his support system, the environment at home and his friends circle, was totally different than what Sachin had,” Kapil pointed out.