Indialose 0-1 to Myanmar in afc challenge
Yangon: The Indian football team on Wednesday suffered a 0-1 defeat at the hands of Myanmar in its last league match of the qualifying event of the AFC Challenge Cup here, which put the country’s chances of advancing to the final round of the tournament in a difficult position. Home side substitute Soe Min Oo scored the only goal of the match in the 75th minute.
With the loss, India ended the tournament on second position with six points from two wins — against Chinese Taipei (2-1) and Guam (4-0). Myanmar qualified for the final round of the AFC Challenge Cup, to be held next year in Maldives, after emerging as Group A toppers with seven points from two wins and a draw.
Asian Athletics GP shifted from Chennai
New Delhi: With the Tamil Nadu government refusing to host Sri lankan athletes on political grounds, the third leg of the Asian Grand Prix scheduled to be held in Chennai on May 16 has now been shifted to Colombo. After the Tamil Nadu government cancelled the prestigious Asian Championship scheduled to be held in Chennai from July 3-7, the Asian Athletics Association has decided to hold the third leg of the Asian GP in Colombo on May 12. On February 21, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa called off the championship, saying that lankan athletes have no place in the state, after reports of the alleged brutal killing of slain lTTE chief V Prabhakaran’s son came out.
Somdev bows out of Indian Wells qualifiers
Indian Wells: Somdev Devvarman’s bid to enter the main draw of the Indian Wells ATP Masters tournament fell flat as he lost the opening round of the qualifiers in straight sets to Italian 27th seed Matteo Viola, here. The Indian, playing under protected ranking, suffered a 2-6 2-6 basing at the hands of world number 127. Somdev, ranked 250, lost his serve six times in the opening-round match of the $5,030,408 hard court event.
Vijay number 2 in world, dominates Asia
New Delhi: london Olympic silver medallist Vijay Kumar continued his stranglehold over the number one spot in the Asian shooting rankings for 25-metre rapidfire pistol while retaining the number two position in the world list. Vijay has logged 2321 points to maintain his lead over second-placed Feng Ding (2015) of China in his pet event. In the world rankings, the 27-year-old shooter from Hamirpur district in Himachal Pradesh, has collected 2197 points that places him in the second spot, behind Cuba’s Pupo leuris, who has 2806 points. The Cuban had won the gold medal in the london Games.
Junior Hockey WC in delhi from Dec 6-15
lausanne (Switzerland): New Delhi’s Major Dhyan Chand Stadium will play host to the men’s Hero Hockey Junior World Cup from December 6-15, the International Hockey Federation said here on Wednesday. Apart from Junior World Cup, MDC will also host the men’s Hockey World league Finals from January 10-18 next year.
Aircel-chennai open renews partnership
New Delhi: Aircel, one of country’s leading telecom brand, has extended its association with the ATP Chennai Open as its title sponsor until 2016. Aircel has been associated with South Asia’s only ATP World Tour event since the tournament held in 2010. “We are very happy to be extending this association till 2016 and are confident that not only will it harness the young tennis talent of India, but the property will grow further to become a global platform strengthening Chennai’s position on the international tennis map,” Anupam Vasudev, Chief Marketing Officer, Aircel, said.