Champions Trophy call on May 7: BCCI
Kolkata: Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) acting Secretary Amitabh Choudhary on Friday hinted that the call on India's participation in the ICC Champions Trophy will be taken in the Special General Meeting (SGM) to be held on May 7 in New Delhi. India's participation in the Champions Trophy starting June 1 is in doubt following a landmark vote by the International Cricket Council (ICC) that went against the BCCI and means their share of the financial pot from global events will suffer a significant cut. The BCCI had already missed Tuesday's deadline to submit their squad for the eight-team 50-overs tournament and according to reports a boycott is being considered by factions within the embattled governing body. "The SGM will be held on May 7 in Delhi. The next course of action will be decided there," Choudhary told reporters on the sidelines of the Indian Premier league (IPl) game between Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Daredevils here.
Harika adjudged best women player Reykjavik: Indian Grandmaster Harika Dronavalli ended her campaign on a high note with a win against Jakob Pfreundt of Germany at the Reykjavik Open here. The world number 11 Indian had to toil for a little less than four hours to eke out a victory against her German opponent in her last game of the tournament. She ended the tournament with six wins, two draws and two losses to finish 17th with seven points in the 10-round Swiss tournament which saw 267 players from across the globe competing for the coveted crown. Playing for the fifth time in Iceland, the Indian was also adjudged the 'best women's player of the tournament' and gained two rating points. "From a normal position in the game, I constructed an attack on my opponent's king which was successful due to a few errors from him in the hard fought encounter," Harika said after her last game in the tournament.
Advani loses in Snooker summit clash
Doha: India's top cueist Pankaj Advani lost to China's lv Haotian in the summit clash of Asian Snooker Championship here on Friday, as he failed in his bid to win the continental double of billiards and snooker titles in the same year. Advani lost 3-6 in the final to his Chinese opponent and it meant that he could not become the first player to win both Asian titles in Billiards and Snooker in same calendar year. The defeat in the final also meant that Advani could not complete a career Grand Slam in cue sport. Having won all the major events — Nationals, Asian and World Championships in both Billiards and Snooker and in both the long and short formats, this is the one title (15-red Asian Snooker) that has eluded Advani. A victory will make Advani only player in history to win all Majors in two sports at all levels and across all formats.
Agencies