ONGC, Navy win in Durand Cup
New Delhi: ONGC and Indian Navy posted easy wins in their quarterfinal league round matches of the 126th Durand Cup Football Tournament here on Wednesday. While ONGC thrashed Army Red 4-1, Indian Navy got the better of Air India 2-0 at the Ambedkar Stadium. Asim Hasan (39th and 58th minute), Henry Ezeh (65th) and Parvinder Singh (76th) found the net for ONGC, before Vipin T V scored what turned out to be the consolation goal for Army Red in the 19th minute. Riyad B and (75th) and Raman Rai (77th) scored for Indian Navy. Star-studded Mohammedan Sporting will be playing in the Durand Cup for the first time since 2006. They are placed in Group III and will take on Army Green in their opening encounter tomorrow. The other team in this group is another Kolkata outfit Kalighat. The winners of the group qualify for the semifinals. Mohammedan Sporting, who last entered the Durand final in 1992, are a formidable squad this season and have several star players like Australian striker Tolgay Ozbey, Nigerian attacking midfielder Penn Orji and Brazilian defender Luciano Sabrosa. (PTI)
Bengaluru FC add more local flavour
Bangalore: Bengaluru FC on Wednesday announced the signing of two local boys Niroshan Mani and Amoes in their squad for the I-League season that begins in less than two weeks. The midfield duo have signed one-year contracts with the club coached by former Manchester United player Ashley Westwood. Twenty-one-year-old Niroshan is a TFA graduate who spent two seasons with Goan club Sporting Clube de Goa before securing a loan move to local club South United. “I haven’t come across a more professional set up than the one I’ve seen at Bengaluru FC. The coach is fantastic and this is an opportunity that will do well for my career,” said Niroshan. The twin signings takes the local presence in the club to five. “The boys were on trial and impressed us enough to give them a chance. They are young and would do well to improve playing for the team. It’s also good to have more local presence in the team and it’s a motivation for youngsters in the community to do well,” said Westwood. “It’s great to get this chance to play for a club from your city. This is my first brush with the I-League and I’m going to do everything to make it count,” said 19-year-old Amoes, who has represented Karnataka state twice in the Santosh Trophy. (PTI)
1st round loss for Somdev in Istanbul
Istanbul: After a terrific performance at the US Open, Somdev Devvarman has made a shock first round exit from the ATP Challenger event in Istanbul. Somdev, seeded second, lost 2-6, 3-6 to Russian Konstantin Kravchuk in the opening round of the hard court event. It was first meeting Somdev, ranked 101 and Konstantin, who is placed 74 places below the Indian in the ATP rankings. Somdev had won four matches in the US Open, before losing the second of singles main draw to Italian Andreas Seppi. Meanwhile at the Petange Challenger event in Luxembourg, third seeded pair of Divij Sharan and Purab Raja also bowed in the first round after a 3-6, 3-6 defeat against Maximilian Neuchrist of Austria and Jurgen Zopp of Estonia. Divij also had outstanding performance at the US Open, reaching the pre-quarterfinals with Taiwan partner Yen-Hsun Lu. (PTI)
Younis shines for Pakistan again
Harare: Younis Khan carried on from where he left off in the first Test as he played another solid innings for Pakistan on the second day of the second Test against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club on Wednesday. Younis followed up a match-winning double century in the first Test with an unbeaten 52 as Pakistan reached 163 for three at the close of play in reply to Zimbabwe’s first innings total of 294. When he reached 50 for the 49th time in Test cricket Younis became the fourth Pakistan batsman to reach 7,000 runs in Tests. Batsmen of both sides played cautiously on a slow pitch. Only five wickets fell in the day, while 222 runs were scored. Zimbabwe added 57 runs to their overnight score of 237/8, with the last wicket stand making 46 runs. (AFP)