Karn takes India A closer to final
Darwin (Australia): Darwin (Australia): Young leg-spinner Karn Sharma's all-round exploits helped India A eked out a thrilling one-wicket victory over South Africa A team to reach closer to the title round in the Quadrangular 'A' series here on Saturday. Batting first, South Africa A scored 275 for eight in 50 overs with Rilee Russouw scoring 137 off 150 balls with 15 boundaries with next best score being 29 by Farhan Behardien. leggie Karn was the most successful bowler grabbing two for 35 in 10 overs and then smashed a 16-ball-39 at crucial juncture to finish the match with a ball to spare. Karn hit some lusty blows off pacers Merchant de lange and Kagiso Rabada to snatch a victory after India A were reduced to 234 for eight from a relatively comfortable 152 for one. There was a middle-order collapse after the top three including skipper Robin Uthappa (46), Unmukt Chand (52) and Manan Vohra (53) were out after getting starts. India A now have won three out of their four matches and have 15 points to their credit. Brief Scores: South Africa A: 275/8 in 50 overs (Rilee Russouw 137, Karn Sharma 2/35) lost to India A: 276/9 in 49.5 overs (Manan Vohra 53, Unmukt Chand 52, Karn Sharma 39 no) by 1 wicket.
Navjeet wins bronze
New Delhi: Discus thrower Navjeet Kaur Dhillon became only the second Indian to grab a medal at the IAAF World Junior Championships after setting a new personal best to clinch a bronze in Eugene, USA. The 19-year-old covered an impressive 56.36m with her throw at the Hayward Field last night in the World Junior Championships. Her previous best was 53.97m which she recorded while winning the Junior Federation Cup at Chennai this May, a release stated. Brazil's Izabela da Silva set a world junior leading mark of 58.03m for the gold while American Valarie Allman (56.75m) entertained the home crowd with a silver medal. It was the second ever bronze medal for India in the world juniors after Seema Antil's 2002 effort in Kingston, Jamaica. Incidentally Seema won a gold medal in 2000 at Santiago de Chile, but was disqualified thereafter due to doping violations. Navjeet's first major success came in Commonwealth Youth Games at Douglas (Isle of Man) in 2011 when she won a bronze medal with a throw of 45.27m.
‘Sikh cagers should’ve rebelled’
New Delhi: Furious at the recent incident of India's Sikh basketball players being asked to remove turbans at the Asia Cup in China, former cricket captain Bishan Singh Bedi on Saturday said the cagers should have walked out of the match instead of complying with the diktat. "Absolutely revolting Sikh Basketball players were not asked but ordered 2 remove turban/patka & they obliged!I'd 've rebelled walked out..!!" tweeted Bedi. Two Sikh players — Amritpal Singh and Amjyot Singh — were asked to remove their turbans before the start of a match on July 12. They were stopped from entering the court moments before India were to open their campaign against Japan. The match officials informed the players that they were breaking International Basketball Federation (FIBA) rules and were not allowed to play with turbans. The matter was also discussed at the International Basketball Association's (FIBA) central board recently.
DADA to become CAB secretary
Kolkata: Former India captain will begin a new innings as cricket administrator when he's elected uncontested for the post of joint-secretary of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) at its 83rd AGM here on Sunday. The CAB AGM would be a mundane affair with 74-year-old cricket administrator Jagmohan Dalmiya taking charge for yet another term without any opposition. Having held some key positions in various sub committees like cricket development, this would be a full time entry for the 42-year-old former skipper who called it quits from international cricket in November 2008. Ganguly will succeed Sujan Mukherjee whose four-year term is getting over this month.
Nibali set to win Tour de france
Perigueux (France): Vincenzo Nibali confirmed he will win the Tour de France and two Frenchmen will join him on the podium after a dramatic penultimate stage on Saturday. After his remarkable deeds in the mountains, Nibali finished the individual time trial in an impressive fourth place behind winner and German speedster Tony Martin, and padded his overall lead by more than 40 seconds to nearly eight minutes. It's mainly a ceremonial ride on Sunday to the Champs-Elysees, where Nibali is set to become the first Italian winner of the Tour since Marco Pantani in 1998. Nibali reduced the drama on Stage 20 to who would join him on the podium on Sunday. Jean-Christophe Peraud and Thibaut Pinot, will, the first Frenchmen on the podium since Richard Virenque in 1997. They did enough to leave behind an unlucky Alejandro Valverde of Spain in their three-man race for the final podium. Only 15 seconds separated them when the stage began in Bergerac, but it became more than two minutes when the time trial finished in Perigueux.
FIBA to review ban on headgear
Geneva: Trying to douse the hurt sentiments of Sikh and Muslim players, the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) is ready to review its rule which prevents cagers from wearing headgear for religious reasons. A controversy erupted at the FIBA-sanctioned Asia Cup in China this month after two Indian Sikh players were told to remove their turbans ahead of the game and the world governing body said on Saturday that its policy-making board will review the issue at an August 27 meet in Sevilla ahead of the World Cup. "FIBA's Central Board, which is ultimately responsible for changes to the Official Basketball Rules, will review these requests and decide how to proceed in the best interest of the sport," the 214-nation governing body said in a statement.
Zak gets into fitness business
Mumbai: Indian pacer Zaheer Khan has launched a company ‘ProSport', which provides fitness training and physiotherapy services. Former physiotherapist of the Indian team Andrew leipus and former fitness trainer of the team Adrian leroux are part of the company. The company will operate from 5,000-sqft ‘mother centre' at lower Parel in Mumbai, with another four centres that would come up in metro cities, it said in a statement. "ProSport will extend its services across all the metro cities and strategic tier-II cities.” PNS/Agencies