BCCI’s first annual conclave from 21-24 June
New Delhi: The BCCI will discuss ways to make the workings of the Board more “transparent and efficient”, besides focusing on steps to strengthen the domestic cricket season and take IPl to new heights, in its first-ever annual conclave in Dharamsala from June 21-24. The conclave will be held at the HPCA Stadium prior to the Cricket Board’s working committee meeting, during which it is also expected to announce the name of the new Indian team coach less than a fortnight before the squad leaves for the West Indies. It will start with a workshop for media managers of all state cricket associations, which includes a session on digital media. It will be followed by a conference of coaches and captains, IPl Governing Council, Junior Committee and Affiliation Committee meeting. The conclave will wrap up on June 24 with the working committee meeting.
Indian men’s archery fail to qualify for Rio
Antalya: India will not have a men’s archery team to compete in the Rio Games as it failed to make the cut in the Final Olympic Qualifying Tournament held on the sidelines of the World Cup Stage 3 at the Konyaalti Beach Park here on Thursday. The Indian trio of Atanu Das, Jayanta Talukdar and Mangal Singh Champia, who got the top seeding, lost to lower ranked Malaysians 4-5 in the shoot-off (27-28) in the quarters to be out of Rio reckoning. Needed to finish among top three to qualify, India found themselves in a favourable draw of 16 as it sweat past home challengers Turkey 4-5 in the shootoff (28-27). But Champia’s poor form continued as the team squandered a 2-0 lead to lose to Malaysia in the quarters.
Saina, Srikanth improve two places in rankings
New Delhi: Riding on her stupendous performance at the Australian Open Super Series, Indian ace Saina Nehwal jumped two places to reach the World No Six in the latest BWF ranking. In men’s singles, Kidambi Srikanth also improved two places to reach World No 11 with 52,086 points. PV Sindhu was static at World No 10, while Ajay Jayaram slipped three places to be at the 24th spot. H S Prannoy also lost four places to be at the 28th spot. In men’s doubles, Rio-bound Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy slipped a place to be at the World No 21st spot, while women’s doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa also dropped down to World No 16.
Federer tops Jaziri after trouble in second set
Halle: Top-seeded Roger Federer overcame a 4-1 deficit in the second set to beat Malek Jaziri 6-3, 7-5 on Thursday and stay on course for his ninth title at the Gerry Weber Open. Federer caught up and broke serve for 6-5, before serving out the match. Jaziri sent a backhand wide on the first match point. Jaziri actually hit two more winners than Federer but also had three more unforced errors. Federer will play fifth-seeded David Goffin in the quarterfinals. Goffin was up 4-6, 7-5, 2-0 when Sergiy Stakhovski retired. Earlier, eighth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber endured 26 aces from Ivo Karlovic in winning 6-7 (7), 6-4, 7-5.
Puneri rope in partner brands for Season 4
Pune: Puneri Paltan, who is set to improve upon their 3rd place finish from season three, announce their tie up with Force Motors as it’s principal partner, TVS Tyres as it’s associate partner and Equio as it’s Apparel partner. Kailash Kandpal, team manager of Puneri Paltan added: “Partner brands play a very important role in the journey of a sports franchise. With the new team in place along with our key players who we have retained, I am confident that this season our performance shall speak volumes. I’m looking forward to our partnership with our fellow partners year on year.”