Bolt, Biles win laureus award
Monaco: Sprint king Usain Bolt pipped the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and leBron James to win the 'Sportsman of the Year' trophy for the record-equalling fourth time while gymnast Simone Biles clinched the top honour in the women's category at the laureus Sports Awards here. They are the little and large of sport - while Bolt stands 1.95 metres, Biles measures just 1.45 metres - but they were both giants at the Rio Olympics and enjoyed an ecstatic welcome as they received their statuettes here, the birthplace of the first ever laureus awards 17 years ago. Bolt, who won this award in 2009, 2010 and 2013, walked away with the 'Oscar of Sports' for the fourth time, joining tennis legends Roger Federer and Serena Williams, and surfer Kelly Slater as four-time laureus award winner.
India drub Singapore 4-1
Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam): India rallied to start their campaign on a winning note in the ROBOT Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships 2017, embarrassing Singapore 4-1, here on Wednesday. Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy lost to Yong Kai Terry Hee and Wei Han Tan 21-23, 17-21 in the mixed doubles event. But Sameer Verma beat Kean Yew loh 21-9, 21-16 in men's singles to bring India back into the contest. India consolidated their position as the duo of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy defeated Danny Bawa Chrisnanta and Hendra Wijaya 21-12, 21-17 in men's doubles. Rituparna Das easily got the better of Xiaoyu liang 23-21, 21-18 in women's singles, before the pairing of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy, after being a set down, prevailed over Ren-Ne Ong and Jia Ying Crystal Wong 19-21, 21-17, 21-17 as India recorded a comfortable win.
India beat SA in World Cup Qualifiers
Colombo: India closed in on a berth in the ICC Women's World Cup 2017 after a 49-run win over South Africa while Sri lanka and Bangladesh also registered notable wins in the first round of Super Six matches in the qualifiers on Wednesday. India captain Mithali Raj starred in what was seen as a high-profile match since India and South Africa had topped their respective groups and carried a maximum of four points from the preliminary league to the second stage in which they play teams from the other preliminary group. The top four from the Super Six qualify not only for the ICC Women's World Cup 2017 but also for the ICC Women's Championship.
Central upset North while East down South
Mumbai: Central Zone upstaged star-studded North Zone by four runs in a close match to remain in the hunt for the title in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Inter Zonal league at the Wankhede Stadium here on Wednesday. Central, put in to bat, batted reasonably well to score 167 for 7, and then stopped North, who at one stage threatened to reach the target when Yuvraj Singh (33 in 20 balls with four sixes) lashed three sixes in the 18th over, at 163 for 6. It was Central's second victory in three games while they dumped their rivals to their second defeat in three. In the first game of the day, East Zone drubbed South Zone by six wickets with two balls to spare to notch their second win in as many matches.