KOLKATA: India’s women’s recurve team comprising Laishram Bombayla Devi, Deepika Kumari and Chekrovolu Swuro, gave a flying start to the World championship by qualifying for a creditable fourth with a total of 4005 points at Turin (Italy) Monday, according to Indian Archery Association.Deepika,17, was the best among the trio. She finished the four-distance qualifying round with a total of 1343. This enabled her finish ninth in individual ranking.Bombayla was 15th with 1336 and Chekrovolu was 26th with 1326.Ki Bo Bae of Korea topped the ranking with 1389 followed by her country mate Jung Dosami with 1361.The higher an archer is placed in the qualifying round, the better her chances of meeting a less calibre opponent in the first round.(UNI)
4 Indian boxers in President’s Cup qtrs
NEW DELHI: Indian boxers were off to a fine start in the 21st President’s Cup with South Asian Games gold-medallist Chhote Lal Yadav and three others advancing to the quarterfinals of the event in Jakarta, Indonesia, Monday.Yadav, the reigning national champion in the bantam weight 56kg division, beat Hong Kong’s Tso Sing Yu 18-7 in his pre-quarterfinal bout of the event, which is being held seven years after Indonesia was rocked by the devastating Tsunami.In the fly weight 52kg division, Santhosh Harijan notched up a 14-8 triumph over local favourite Hosni Sanveloranv.An 18-year-old Gaurav Bidhuri (49kg), who claimed a bronze medal at the National Games earlier this year, also advanced to the quarterfinals after beating Bogi Andriano of Indonesia 14-8.Also in the last-eight stage was National Championships silver-medallist Jasveer Singh (81kg), who got a first-round bye.(PTI)
Armaan disappoints in Nurburgring
NURBURGRING (Germany):After a top-10 performance in the Free Practice session, India’s Armaan Ebrahim failed to sustain his rhythm as he finished a lowly 15th and 13th in seventh and eighth rounds, respectively, in the Formula 2 Championship races here.The 22-year old Armaan, sponsored by JK Tyre, Amaron and Trimex, began on a promising note when he posted the third quickest time in Friday’s Free Practice session, but thereafter, could not maintain his performance as the exhaust system of his car developed an internal crack.After qualifying 14th for Saturday’s race, Armaan lost a spot to finish 15th.In Sunday’s race, he started 18th on the grid but gained a few places to eventually cross the chequered flag at the 13th position.
“I am obviously very disappointed at the way the weekend rolled out. On Friday, my prospects looked good when I was the third quickest in the opening free practice session, but thereafter, nothing went right for me,” a disappointed Armaan said.(PTI)
Kewell homecoming unlikely
MELBOURNE: Former Leeds and Liverpool forward Harry Kewell will not be returning home to play in Australia’s top flight after talks with the national governing body fell through, his manager said Monday.Kewell, Australia’s first world-class player, had been courted by Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory with Football Federation Australia (FFA) offering to pitch in payments linked to a marketing role for the struggling A-League.However, his manager Bernie Mandic said the FFA had baulked at a demand for Kewell to get a slice of gate revenues at away games.”The FFA offered to assist in bringing Harry back to play in Australia and asked what it would cost to use Harry to market and promote the sport in partnership with the FFA,” he told local radio.”It was a 30-70 split of any additional gate revenue from the away games that Harry plays in.”If there are no more people coming to the away games that Harry plays in, Harry gets nothing … Now this was not accepted by the FFA, which is fair enough.(Agencies)