Reading FC signs MOA with Arunachal
Itanagar: UK-based Reading Football Club and Arunachal Pradesh Football Association (APFA) signed an Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) on Monday for promoting football in the state. Reading FC adviser Tomo Nomuk and APFA president and Lok Sabha member Takam Sanjoy signed the MoA in the presence of Chief Minister Nabam Tuki and other officials here. Pointing out that Arunachal has become the first state in India to enter into such agreement with the club, Tuki informed that his government would provide a grant of Rs 35 lakh to APFA through the department of Sports and Youth affairs for meeting the expenses, such as training, lodging and boarding of two senior coaches the club will engage for six months for hunting talents throughout the state and train them as well the coaches of the department. (PTI)
Somdev qualifies for China Open
Beijing: Somdev Devvarman recorded yet another come-from-behind victory as he defeated higher-ranked Italian Paolo Lorenzi to qualify for the ATP China Open singles event. Ranked 97, the Indian recorded a 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 win over his rival, who is placed 12 places above Somdev, in the second and final round of the qualifying event. Somdev had beaten world number 60 Robin Haase 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 in the opening round. However, Somdev faces an uphill task in the main draw as he has drawn world number 31 Fernando Verdasco as his first round opponent at the hard court event. In the doubles event, Leander Paes and his Canadian partner Daniel Nestor have been given top billing and they will open their campaign against Americans John Isner and Sam Querrey. Mahesh Bhupathi and his Swedish partner Robert Lindstedt are seeded second and they face Novak Djokovic and Stanislas Wawrinka. (PTI)
Davis Cup captain assures ‘smooth sailing’
New Delhi: Newly-appointed Davis Cup captain Anand Amritraj is confident that it will be “smooth sailing” for the Indian team in 2014 as the players’ revolt was thing of the past but he wants to have a say in the decision-making process for taking the team back to the elite World Group. Anand was named captain in place of SP Misra after top players revolted for better playing conditions and demanded a change in the support staff. “2014 will be different than this year as there were some problems. I think next year would be smooth since the players have got what they wanted, it will be smooth sailing,” Amritraj told PTI from Los Angeles in an exclusive interview after being appointed India’s non-playing captain. “I am hoping I will be part of the selection process and my input makes a difference. We have to pick the best team. We have to pick the team on ranking as well as on current form, that would be the criteria. Personally, I am concerned with singles and not the doubles, because we have to win two singles,” he added. (IANS)
Boxing coach rues India suspension
New Delhi: A silver and a couple of bronze medals is no small feat for a suspended country but India’s junior and youth women’s team coach IV Rao said the medal count could have been much higher at the just-concluded World Championships if the nation had some official presence. Back from Albena, Bulgaria, the Indian team had a bronze in the junior event and a silver and a bronze in the youth tournament. The silver-medallist is a 17-year-old Nikhat Zareen (54kg). The bronze medallists are Simranjeet Kaur (60kg, youth) and Asha Roka (48kg, junior). Rao said most of the close decisions ultimately went against his wards and he felt that it had a lot to do with international suspension imposed on India last year. “We didn’t have any official support. We were allowed to participate but we could never complain or file a protest in case we felt that the decision should have gone our way,” Rao said here. “If the close decisions had gone our way, we could have easily clinched 2-3 more medals. Even some of opposition teams like Russia came to us after bouts and told us that some decision were hard on us,” he added. (PTI)