Friday, March 29, 2024
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Sports UPDATE

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Saina, Sindhu advance in Malaysia Open

Kuala Lumpur: Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu got off to winning starts to the season, notching up straight-game victories in their respective opening round women’s singles matches in the Malaysia Super Series Premier here on Wednesday. While eighth-seeded Saina took just 36 minutes to get the better of Indonesia’s Hera Desi 21-10, 21-16 in their first ever meeting, Sindhu fought hard before prevailing 21-17, 21-18 over her old foe Lindaweni Fanetri of Indonesia in a 43-minute contest. Saina next faces Yao Xue of China, while world number 11 Sindhu take on sixth seed Yeon Ju Bae of Korea in the second round. In the men’s singles, however, Anand Pawar and RMV Gurusaidutt crashed out of the event after suffering contrasting defeats in their first round matches. Pawar failed to put up a fight against Zhengming Wang of China and went down 21-12, 21-11. By contrast, Gurusaidutt showed a lot of fighting spirit before losing 21-18, 11-21, 23-21 to Eric Pang of the Netherlands. (PTI)

Ministry to give funds to Olympic athletes

New Delhi: The Sports Ministry cleared the three Indian athletes who have qualified for next month’s Winter Olympics at the government’s cost despite the trio taking part in the Sochi Games as Independent Athletes. Shiva Keshavan (in luge), Himanshu Thakur (in alpine skiing) and Nadeem Iqbal (cross country skiing) have been cleared by the government for the February 7-23 Games after a meeting chaired by Sports Minister Jitendra Singh on Wednesday. The Ministry decided to provide the funds for air travel, out of pocket allowance, for sports kit including ceremonial dress, and boarding and lodging in case it is not provided free in the Games Village in Sochi. The Ministry, however, delayed the sanction of the funds related to buying of expensive equipment for Himanshu and Iqbal requested by the Winter Games Federation of India. The WGFI had said that the duo need to buy new equipment – at least Rs 6 lakh per athlete – as the specifications of the equipments for Winter Olympics are different from the ones they have been using. (PTI)

Sri Lanka says Bangladesh tour still on

Colombo: Sri Lanka is to go ahead with a tour to Bangladesh later this month after carrying out its own security assessment in the violence-plagued country, cricket board officials said on Wednesday. “We are very positive about playing in Bangladesh,” Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) secretary Nishantha Ranatunga told AFP. “We look forward to playing there.” Confirmation that the tour is going ahead comes after SLC vice president Mohan de Silva and the board’s former chief executive Ajith Jayasekera travelled to Bangladesh earlier this week. Ranatunga said the pair were joined by Sri Lankan diplomats as they held discussions in Dhaka about player safety for the tour. The first of two Test matches begins in the capital on January 27. Bangladesh has been rocked by some of the deadliest political violence in its history in recent weeks, with the opposition trying to derail a January 5 general election which was marred by boycotts. The violence has also prompted speculation that the Asia Cup and the Twenty20 World Cup, which are both due to be hosted by Bangladesh in the coming weeks, could be shifted. (AFP)

NZ heap further misery on West Indies

Wellington: New Zealand inflicted a further defeat on the West Indies in their second Twenty20 international on Wednesday to bring a dismal end to the visiting team’s tour. The four-wicket win gave New Zealand the Twenty20 series 2-0 to go with their 2-0 win in the Tests. The one-day internationals were shared 2-2, the West Indies’ only success on their six-week tour. The visitors made 159/5 in 20 overs courtesy a Denesh Ramdin 55 not out down the order. After New Zealand won the first Twenty20 by 81 runs, they were struggling at 79-5 in the second match before a 68-run partnership between Ross Taylor and Luke Ronchi turned the innings around. Taylor played the anchor role with 39 off 41 balls while Ronchi belted an unbeaten 51 off 28 deliveries in an innings that included four fours and two sixes. The outcome could have been different had the West Indies been more alert with their fielding. The biggest bungle was missing two chances to remove Man-of-the-Match Ronchi on the first ball he faced. (AFP)

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