India to take on Canada in play-offs
New Delhi India will have to fight it out with Canada in an away tie for a place in the elite 16-nation World Group when the play-offs take place from September 15 to 17. It will be first ever clash between the two teams in Davis Cup history. India qualified for the play-offs for the fourth straight year after beating Uzbekistan 4-1 in a home tie last week while Canada had lost 2-3 to Great Britain in the World Group first round in February. "It will be a fun tie. They have some top players, which will challenge our boys to play at a higher level," India's non-playing captain Mahesh Bhupathi told PTI. Canada boast of world number six Milos Raonic in their line-up but the 2016 Wimbledon runner-up had missed the last tie against Britain due to an injury.
KHK MMA announces Mumbai Event
New Delhi: Asia's largest Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) promotion Brave Combat Federation owned by Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa has decided to step into the Indian market. KHK MMA founded by Sheikh Khalid had previously supported and nurtured upcoming Indian talent allowing them to compete at a global level. These initiatives also strengthened economic and diplomatic relations between India and the Kingdom of Bahrain. The first ever Brave Combat Federation fight night will be held on Sunday, April 23 at Dome@NSCI, SVP Stadium, Worli, Mumbai, 6 PM onwards. Hardeep Rai, Abdul Muneer, Gurdarshan Mangat, Mohammad Farhad, Chaitanya Gavali, Bharat Khandare, Govind Ale, Nelson Paes, Atif Mohammad are few among the first wave of Indian athletes who qualified to be a part of the global promotion. These athletes were the first to represent India in International events in Bahrain, Brazil and Abu Dhabi as a part of Brave Combat Federation.
India miss chances to lose in q/f
Wuxi (China): The Indian men's team squandered a flurry of chances to lose 2-3 to formidable Japan in the quarterfinals of the Asian Table Tennis Championships here on Tuesday. And India, which nearly pulled of a sensational result against the Japanese, squandered chance after chance to go down. Koki Niwa played a pivotal role in Japan's victory, winning both his matches. After Soumyajit Ghosh had given his team a perfect start with a win over Yuya Oshima, Sharath Kamal lost in the fourth game against Koki Niwa. The agony continued as Harmeet Desai suffered a five-game defeat. But Sharath returned to beat Yuya Oshima to set up an intriguing decider between Ghosh and Koki Niwa. Ghosh began well but eventually lost as the verdict went in favour of Koki Niwa, who won to be the hero of the hour. India will now play for the 7-8 positions on Wednesday. Agencies