Indian para athletes dished out commendable performances to bag 11 medals, including three golds, on the second day of the 2018 Para Asian Games here on Monday.

Javelin thrower Sandeep Chaudhary clinched India’s first gold of the Games in the men’s F42-44/61-64 category in the morning session, before middle distance runner Raju Rakshitha (women’s T11 1500m) and swimmer Jadhav Suyash Narayan (men’s S7 50m butterfly) clinched two more golds later in the day.

With a best throw of 60.01 metre, which Sandeep managed in his third attempt, he clinched the yellow metal. The silver went to Sri Lanka’s Chaminda Sampath Hetti, while Iran’s Omidi Ali settled for the bronze.

India’s medal tally swelled further with the addition of two more silver medals after Ramya Shanmugam and Radha Venkatesh finished second in women’s F46 javelin throw and women’s T12/13 1500m race, respectively.

India also won a silver in para-powerlifting, through 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Sakina Khatun in women’s 50 kg category, while shooting para sport gave the country a silver and a bronze.

Indian para swimmers also fetched three more bronze medals adding to the gold from Narayan.

In the later part of the day, 2016 Rio Paralympics silver medallist Deepa Malik settled for a bronze in women’s F 53/54 javelin throw with an effort of 10.15m.

With Monday’s 11 medals, India occupy the eighth spot in the medal tally with 3 gold, 6 silver and 8 bronze.

IANS

Reigning Olympic champion Carolina Marin was on Monday bought by debutant PBL franchise Pune 7 Aces, while Indian stars Saina Nehwal and P.V.Sindhu were picked up by Hyderabad Hunters and North Eastern Warriors respectively during the Premier Badminton League (PBL) auction here on Monday.

Saina, the London Olympics bronze medallist, was bought as the icon player by the North Eastern Warriors for Rs 80 lakh. She had earlier represented the Awadhe Warriors for the past three editions.

“PBL Season 4 is coming up. I am really happy to know that I am with the North Eastern Warriors. So, really looking forward to play,” Saina said in a Twitter video.

Sindhu, the Rio Olympics silver medallist, will feature for the Hyderabad franchise after the defending champions picked her up for Rs 80 lakh, while Rio gold medallist Carolina Marin of Spain also went for the same price to Pune. World No.9 Sung Ji Hyun was snapped up by Chennai Smashers, also for Rs 80 lakh.

Among the big names in men’s badminton, former World No.1 Victor Axelsen of Denmark was picked up by Ahmedabad Smash Masters for Rs 80 lakh, while World No.6 Kidambi Srikanth joined Bengaluru Raptor for the same amount.

H.S. Prannoy was bought by Delhi Dashers after a bidding war with Mumbai Rockets for Rs 80 lakh, while South Korea’s Sung Ji Hyun and Lee Yong Dae also went for the same amount to Chennai Smashers and Mumbai, respectively.

The Awadh Warriors spent Rs 70 lakh to bag the services of South Korean Son Wan Ho while Pune bought Denmark’s Mathias Boe for Rs 50 lakh.

Teenaged sensation Lakshya Sen was bought by Pune for Rs 11 lakh while another youngster Satwiksairaj Rankireddy went for a whopping Rs 52 lakh to the Ahmedabad Smash Masters.

IANS

India skipper Virat Kohli and his teammate Jasprit Bumrah maintained their top spot in the latest ICC ODI rankings for batsmen and bowlers respectively.

Kohli remained at the first place in the batsman’s chart with 884 points and is followed by his deputy Rohit Sharma, who has 842 ranking points.

Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan is placed fifth in the list carrying 802 points.

Coming to the bowling rankings, pacer Bumrah has 797 points to his name and leads the list.

The death-over specialist is followed by young Afghanistan sensation Rashid Khan, who has 788 points, while Indian chinaman Kuldeep Yadav is placed third with 700 points.

South Africa bowlers Kagiso Rabada and Imran Tahir have also advanced within the top-10 of the rankings after their side’s 3-0 home series triumph over Zimbabwe.

Pacer Rabada, who is also ranked second in Tests, has moved up three spots to take sixth position after grabbing five wickets in two matches, while formerly top-ranked leg-spinner Tahir’s player of the series effort of 10 wickets, which included a hat-trick in the second ODI, has seen him progress three places to seventh position.

Meanwhile in the team’s rankings, England topped the chart with 127 points, while India is placed second with 122 points.

New Zealand (112 points), South Africa (110) and Pakistan (101) grabbed the third, fourth and fifth spot respectively.

England will have to win the away series against Sri Lanka, starting October 10, to retain their number one ranking. Their failure to win the series will give India a sniff at the top spot when they will take on the West Indies in the five-ODI series from October 21.

However, if both England and India win all their matches in the upcoming series against Sri Lanka and the West Indies, then they will gain a point each to finish on 128 and 123 points respectively, thus retaining a difference of five points.

IANS

India’s wait for a gold medal at the ongoing 2018 Para Asian Games ended on Monday as javelin thrower Sandeep Chaudhary topped the men’s F42-44/61-64 event.

With a best throw of 60.01 metre, which Sandeep managed in his third attempt, he clinched the yellow metal beside extending India’s medal tally to six.

The silver went to Sri Lanka’s Chaminda Sampath Hetti, while Iran’s Omidi Ali settled for the bronze.

Sandeep suffers from limb deficiency, difference in leg length and impaired muscle power.

India had won a total of five medals, two silver and three bronze, on Sunday.

Chennai Former champions U-Mumba led for large parts but eventually succumbed to the grit of local rivals Puneri Paltan and settle for an entertaining 32-32 draw in the opening day’s second game of the Pro Kabaddi tournament here at the packed Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium on Sunday.

After inflicting the only all out of the match in latter stages of the first half, U Mumba pulled away from 20-20 at one stage early on in the second period to lead by two points in the dying seconds of the tie.

But a successful raid from Monu followed by the Pune defence hacking down U Mumba’s star raider Siddharth Desai to the mat dashed U Mumba’s hopes of starting afresh after a dismal previous season where they lost four of their last five matches to miss out from the qualification scenario for the playoffs.

Nitin Tomar racked up 15 raid points for Pune while Desai scored one less for U Mumba as both the Maharashtra sides fought tooth and nail till the final whistle in an exhibition of fitness shown by both sets of players.

With the result, U Mumba have now failed to get past Pune on five occasions in the last six meetings.

There was nothing to choose between teams for much of the first period barring U Mumba inflicting an all out on their local rivals who frittered their three-point lead at one point (9-6) to trail 14-18.

However, two successful raids from Nitin Tomar coupled with Siddharth Desai failing to get the better of Pune defence helped Pune end the half at 18-20.

Post the breather, Monu helped Pune take the first point with a successful raid. Abhishek Singh faltered for U Mumba to level proceedings at 20-20 but Rohit Baliyan restored his side’s lead to two points.

In form Siddharth then scored a super raid to stretch U Mumba’s lead to four points (21-25) but Tomar kept Pune in the game till the end and his efforts paid off when first Monu raided successfully followed by the Pune defence hacking Siddharth to the mat to level proceedings.

(IANS)

Bengaluru, Oct 7 (IANS) Late goals in the Hero Indian Super League match 9 at the Kanteerava Stadium on Sunday saw Jamshedpur FC hold Bengaluru FC to a 2-2 draw.

Nishu Kumar’s stunning volley at the stroke of half-time put the hosts ahead. However, youngster Gourav Mukhi made history when he came on for Jamshedpur FC as substitute and scored on his debut to equalize in the 81st minute.

Later, Sunil Chhetri’s header in the 88th minute put the hosts ahead. However, Jamshedpur’s Sergio Cidoncha’s effort in added time (90+4) denied the hosts a win at home.

On Sunday, Tim Cahill and Michael Soosairaj got their much-awaited debut in the ISL as Jamshedpur FC head coach Cesar Ferrando named an attacking side to take on last season’s finalists.

Carles Cuadrat’s Blues were unchanged from their 1-0 win over defending champions Chennaiyin FC.

Ferrando’s side started the game on the front foot but the first real threat came from the home side 12 minutes into the match.

The visitors piled up the pressure as the first half progressed but their final delivery into the box lacked clarity.

Just near the half-time, the ball fell to Nishu Kumar outside the box who unleashed a stunning strike into the top left corner of the net, leaving the visiting goalkeeper Subhasish Chowdhury helpless and stunned.

The hosts went into half-time with a 1-0 lead.

Later, when 19 minutes was left on the clock, 16-year-old forward Mukhi replaced Jerry Maiwa to become the youngest ever player to make his debut in ISL. Ten minutes later, the youngster produced a moment of brilliance to bring Jamshedpur back into the game.

Just when the visitors thought they were done for the day, Harmanjot Khabra’s long ball into the box from the right flank was headed into the net by Chhetri to put the hosts back into the lead in the 88th minute.

However, Jamshedpur FC pulled one back right at the death. Arques’s cross into the box in the added time saw Cidoncha place his effort into the far post to ensure that they pick a crucial point away from home.

The hard fought draw earned kept Jamshedpur FC unbeaten run here at the Kanteerava Stadium.

Ravindra Jadeja’s unbeaten ton guided India to a mammoth total as the hosts declared their first innings at 649/9 at tea on the second day of the first Test against the West Indies here on Friday.

Jadeja (100 not out) batted with the tail-enders and completed his brilliant ton which contained five boundaries and as many sixes. This is his first Test hundred.

Continuing the second session from 506/5, skipper Virat Kohli (139) was dismissed after adding 19 runs more to his score. He was dismissed by Sherman Lewis. His 230 balls innings was laced with 10 boundaries.

Jadeja then played with lower-order batters — Ravichandran Ashwin (7), Kuldeep Yadav (12), Umesh Yadav (22) and Mohammed Shami (2)– and completed his first ton in Tests which was highlighted by blitzkrieg hitting towards the end.

The West Indian bowlers were thrashed all around the park by the left-hander. For a brief period, Jadeja was joined by Umesh who also slammed two huge sixes.

For the West Indies, Devendra Bishoo picked up four wickets while Sherman Lewis chipped in with two wickets.

Earlier, in the first session, Kohli brought up his 24th Test century while wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant missed out on one after a blistering 92 as India put up 506/5.

IANS

Skipper Virat Kohli brought up his 24th Test century while wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant missed out on one after a blistering 92 as India put up 506/5 at lunch on day two of the first Test against the West Indies here on Friday.

Kohli, who was 72 not out overnight, became the second fastest to 24 Test hundreds behind only Donald Bradman, who took 66 innings to Kohli’s 123.

The right-hander took time to get to the milestone as the aggressive Pant (92 off 84), who resumed at 17, went all guns blazing.

A second Test hundred in his fourth Test was for the taking but Pant tried to hit a six and failed to pick the googly to top-edge the ball for a simple catch to Keemo Paul at backward point.

Prithvi Shaw became the youngest Indian to score a Test century on debut as India rode on the Mumbai teenager’s fluent 134 to post 232/3 at Tea against the West Indies in the first Test here on Thursday.

Shaw, at 18 years and 329 days, reached the historic three-figure mark off just 99 balls at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium.

The record was previously held by Abbas Ali Baig, who at the age of 20 years 131 days, scored a half-century against England in Manchester in 1959.

Shaw is also the second youngest Indian ever to score a Test century after Sachin Tendulkar who cracked a ton at 17 years and 107 days in 1990 vs England in Manchester.

Shaw, who opened the innings for India, took 99 balls to get to his maiden hundred. His innings was laced with 15 boundaries.

Besides Shaw, Cheteshwar Pujara also scored a good looking 86 in his own backyard but missed out on a hundred.

Skipper Virat Kohli, who was all smiles when young Shaw raised his bat after reaching the milestone, was at the crease on 4 with vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane (batting 0) with Shaw offering an easy return catch to leggie Devendra Bishoo trying to play against the turn.

Shaw and Pujara added 206 runs for the second wicket as the tourists were sent on a leatherhunt for large parts of the second session.

Shaw’s innings was studded with 19 fours while Pujara hit 14 boundaries before poking at a length ball half-heartedly to wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich off pacer Sherman Lewis, who bagged his first Test scalp.

Earlier, Opting to bat, the hosts lost K.L. Rahul for a duck in the very first over of the two-match series as Caribbean pacer Shannon Gabriel caught the Indian opener in front of the wickets.

Brief scores: India 232/3 in 51 overs (Prithvi Shaw 134, Cheteshwar Pujara 86, Virat Kohli batting 4, Ajinkya Rahane batting 0; Shannon Gabriel 1/38)

IANS

India won the toss and elected to bat against West Indies in the first Test here on Thursday.

For India, Kuldeep Yadav, Umesh Yadav and Mohammad Shami are starting while Prithvi Shaw is making his debut.

For West Indies, Sherman Lewis will be the debutant.

Squads:

India: Lokesh Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav

West Indies: Kraigg Brathwaite(c), Kieran Powell, Shai Hope, Shimron Hetmyer, Roston Chase, Sunil Ambris, Shane Dowrich(w), Keemo Paul, Devendra Bishoo, Sherman Lewis, Shannon Gabriel

IANS