New Delhi, May 2 : India’s Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy in men’s doubles while B Sai Praneeth in men’s single lost their matches in second round of the New Zealand Open in Auckland on Thursday.
In men’s singles 12th world rank Lin Dan took 37 minutes to defeat Praneeth 21-12, 21-12. Dan has now 2-0 record against Praneeth. The duo last played in 2017.
While in the men’s doubles also it was heartbreak for Indian pair after being edged out by Malaysia’s 7th seed Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong 21-17, 21-19 in 60 minutes. The Indian pair has 2-2 record against the Malaysian’s.
Earlier, on Wednesday Indian campaign ended in women’s single as Olympic medallist Saina Nehwal and Anura Prabhudesai both crashed out in the first round.

London, May 2 : Former Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara will be the next President of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).

Sangakkara, who retired from international cricket in 2015, will become the first non-British President of the club. He will take up the post on October 1 this year and will serve for a period of 12 months.

His nomination was announced on Wednesday at Lord’s by the current President, Anthony Wreford, at the MCC annual general meeting.

The 41-year-old, has been associated with the club for a long time. In 2011, he delivered the ‘Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture’. In 2012, he was awarded Honorary Life Membership. That year, he also joined MCC’s World Cricket committee, of which he is still a member.

“It is a huge honour to be named the next President of MCC and it is a role that I am thoroughly looking forward to. For me, MCC is the greatest cricket club in the world, with its global reach and continued progress for cricket on and off the pitch,” Sangakkara told the Lord’s website.
“The year 2020 is going to be yet another significant one in cricket, especially at Lord’s, and I am thrilled that I am going to be able to play a part in supporting its future as President of MCC,” the former left-handed batsman added.

According to ICC’s website, his presidency will oversee England Test matches at Lord’s played against West Indies and Pakistan. More notably, perhaps, the first year of The Hundred and the launch of a franchise based at the Home of Cricket will also occur during his term.

Sangakkara’s name was appeared twice on the Honours Boards at Lord’s, with both innings coming in 2014.

He hit 147 in the Test, which was ended in a draw against England, and 112 in Sri Lanka’s One-Day International win over the English team.

Expressing his happiness over the appointment, MCC President, Anthony Wreford, said, “As MCC looks to broaden both our horizons and international reputation, I’m delighted that Kumar has accepted the invitation, which he did in January this year, to be the next President of MCC.”

“He is an outstanding individual both on and off the field and will make a huge contribution to the Club. In a World Cup and Ashes year he will also have a significant role to play as President Designate,” he added.

MCC is considered to be the custodian of the game’s laws.

Chennai, Apr 30 : The ruling AIADMK on Tuesday announced cash awards
to Tamil Nadu athletes Gomathi Marimuthu and Arokya Rajiv for winning a gold
and silver respectively in the Asian Athletics meet at Doha in Qatar.

In a statement here, AIADMK Coordinator O Panneerselvam and co-Coordinator
Edappadi K Palaniswami wished them more success in their future events and
announced a cash award of Rs 15 lakh to Gomathi for winning the gold in the
800 m event and Rs 10 lakh to Rajiv for winning the silver in the 4 x 400 m relay.

New Delhi, Apr 30 : Sunrisers Hyderabad’s (SRH) explosive opener David Warner signed off the ongoing 12th edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) with an emotional message after playing 81 runs knock in his team’s thumping 45-run win over Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad.

The left-handed Australian batsman took to Instagram on Tuesday morning to pen an emotional message for SRH fans, team, support staff and everyone else concerned with the league franchise.
“I can not express my gratitude enough to the @sunrisershyd family for your support, not just this season but also for the last year. It’s been a long time waiting but it was great to be back amongst the boys. Owners, support staff, players, social media team and the fans thank you very much for welcoming me back with open arms. I thoroughly enjoyed being back out there swinging that willow. Good luck to the guys for the rest of the tournament and finish,” Warner wrote.

Currently, he is the top run-scorer in the IPL with 692 runs in 12 matches.

The 32-year-old batsman scored eight half-centuries and a century with a healthy strike-rate of 143.86 and an average of 69.20.

On Monday, he helped his team to win the match, scoring 81 off 56 balls, hitting seven fours and two sixes.
Warner is leaving the cash-rich league to join his national team. Warner will have to join his Australian team’s pre-World Cup 2019 training camp starting from May 2.

The showpiece event is scheduled to begin from May 30 in England and Wales. Australia are the defending champions in the tournament.

The national shooting federation Monday recommended pistol ace Heena Sidhu and trap shooter Ankur Mittal for the Rajeev Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, the country’s highest sporting honour. 

Anjum Moudgil (rifle), Shahzar Rizvi (pistol) and Om Prakash Mitharwal (pistol) have been nominated for the Arjuna Awards.

The first Indian pistol shooter to reach number one in the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) world rankings, the 29-year-old Sidhu is a multiple gold medallist at the World Cup, Commonwealth Games, Commonwealth and Asian Championships.

She also held the world record in the 10 metre air pistol event with a final score of 203.8.

Mittal has been one of the most consistent Indian shooters in shotgun, having won silver and gold medals at the World Cups in 2017.

The double trap exponent continued his impressive showing the following year, bagging gold medals at the Asian Championships and Commonwealth Championships. He then claimed silver at the ISSF World Shotgun Championship and became the world No 1 in double trap.

Moudgil was the first Indian to secure a quota place in shooting for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics when she won the women’s air rifle silver in style in the World Championship last September.

The 23-year-old Mitharwal was a smashing success in the last World Championship, winning the men’s 50m gold medal in Changwon, Korea.

Having lost his place in the national squad despite winning World Cup gold and silver medals – with a world record to boot – in 2018, Rizvi fought his way back in for the World Cups in Beijing and Munich.

The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has recommended wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia for India’s the highest sporting honour, Rajeev Khel Ratna Award. 

Besides, WFI has also recommended Rahul Aware, Harpreet Singh, Divya Kakran and Pooja Dhanda for Arjuna award. 

India’s Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports gives the Arjuna Awards to recognize outstanding achievement in sports. 

WFI also recommended Virender Kumar, Sujeet Maan, Narendra Kumar & Vikram Kumar for Dronacharya award, which is a sports coaching honour, given for the outstanding coaches in sports and games. 

Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) recommends Rahul Aware, Harpreet Singh, Divya Kakran and Pooja Dhanda for Arjuna award; Recommends, Virender Kumar, Sujeet Maan, Narendra Kumar & Vikram Kumar for Dronacharya award.

Punia has eight gold medals from his previous nine international tournaments including last year’s Commonwealth and Asian Games. 

Asian champion Bajrang Punia is to become the first Indian wrestler to fight at New York’s iconic Madison Square Garden. 

Punia, who won the 65kg men’s freestyle gold at the recent Asian championships, will be among top wrestlers selected by the American governing body for the May 6 tournament. 

The 25-year-old will take on two-time US national champion Yianni Diakomahlis in the “Grapple at the Garden” Beat the Streets event which since 2010 has become a major showcase for international wrestling. 

Agencies

India ended their campaign at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup with a total of four medals: three golds and a silver.

Divyansh Panwar and Anjum Moudgil had won the first medal for India at the Beijing ISSF World Cup after clinching gold in 10m Air Rifle Mixed event. They defeated the Chinese pair of Liu Ruxuan and Yang Haoran on Thursday.

Thereafter, Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Choudhary won the gold medal in 10m Air Pistol Mixed event. The pair of Bhaker and Chowdhary outshot Jiang Ranxin and Pang Wei of China 16-6 in the final on Thursday.

On Friday, 17-year-old Divyansh won another medal for the country by winning a silver medal in 10m Air Rifle event. While the next day, Abhishek Verma won the gold in 10m Air Pistol event.

On Sunday, none of the Indians was able to add to the medals tally as they failed to qualify for the finals in their respective events.

While Gaayathri, Sunidhi Chauhan and Kajal Saini finished to make it to the finals of the Women’s 50m Rifle 3P event, Manu Bhaker, Rahi Sarnobat and Chinki Yadav could not make it to the summit clash of the 25m Pistol Event.

At the ISSF World Cup, India secured five quotas in shooting for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Abhishek and Saurabh secured the Olympic quota in 10m Air Rifle event while Divyansh clinched the quota in 10m Air Rifle event. In women’s, Anjum Moudgil and Apurvi Chandela secured an Olympic quota in the 10m Air Rifle event.

Agencies

New Delhi, Apr 27: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) suggested India pacers Mohammad Shami and Jasprit Bumrah, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and women’s team player Poonam Yadav for the Arjuna award here on Saturday.

Supreme Court-appointed CoA held a meeting in the capital, where the decision was taken.

Shami is a right-arm fast-medium swing and seam bowler, who bowls consistently around the 87 mph mark, which makes him a deceptively potent fast bowler. He is also known as a reverse swing specialist, while all-rounder Jadeja has also made a comeback in the limited overs team.

The 25-year-old Bumrah consistently bowls at 140?145 kilometres per hour making him one of the fastest bowlers in India. He also specialises in bowling in-swinging yorker deliveries.

The 27-year-old leg-spinner, Poonam from the women’s team, is the fourth name to be nominated. So far, she has picked up 63 wickets from 41 ODIs and 74 wickets from 54 T20 games.

Asian champion Bajrang Punia is to become the first Indian wrestler to fight at New York’s iconic Madison Square Garden. 

Punia, who won the 65kg men’s freestyle gold at the recent Asian championships, will be among top wrestlers selected by the American governing body for the May 6 tournament. 

The 25-year-old will take on two-time US national champion Yianni Diakomahlis in the “Grapple at the Garden” Beat the Streets event which since 2010 has become a major showcase for international wrestling. 

“If you see it from a player’s perspective then it is quite an experience fighting at Madison Square Garden. It’s great exposure. But there is happiness and there is fear,” Punia told AFP. 

“Happiness because I am the first Indian to be invited there. Fear because of my country’s expectations whether I will be able to meet up with it or not,” added Punia, who hails from Jhajjar district of the north Indian state of Haryana. 

Punia has eight gold medals from his previous nine international tournaments including last year’s Commonwealth and Asian Games. 

Punia’s mentor Yogeshwar Dutt who won the 60kg bronze at the 2012 London Olympics praised his achievement.

“He has been winning all this time and he will triumph at Madison Square Garden,” Dutt told AFP. 

“He wins finals everywhere he goes. I just tell him to keep working hard.” 

American wrestler Kyle Snyder, who won the 97kg title at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, and Jordan Burroughs — 2012 London Olympics gold winner — are the other top attractions at the event. 

Agencies

Indian shooter Abhishek Verma won the gold medal in the 10m Air Pistol event at the ongoing International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup here on Saturday.

Verma, 29, appearing only in his second ISSF World Cup, shot 242.7 in the finals of the event to claim the top honours. Russia’s Artem Chernousov clinched the silver medal with a score of 240.4 while Korea’s Han Seungwoo secured bronze with a score of 220.0.

With this gold, the 2018 Asian Games bronze medallist also secured a fifth quota for India in shooting for the 2020 Olympic Games to be held in Tokyo.

On Friday, 17-year-old Divyansh Singh Panwar had secured an Olympic quota by winning a silver medal in the 10m Air Rifle event at the ongoing tournament. Earlier, Saurabh Choudhary had also clinched the Olympic quota in the 10 m Air Pistol event.

In women’s, Anjum Moudgil and Apurvi Chandela had earlier secured an Olympic quota in the 10m Air Rifle event.