Sports Ministry doubles allocation funds for hockey
New Delhi: Elated with Junior men hockey team’s performance at the recent Sultan Johar Cup, the Sports Minister Jitendra Singh on Thursday announced the Government’s decision to allocate double funds for training and setting up of new infrastructure for hockey in the country. “The government of India has doubled its allocation towards hockey training. We have got the best of coaches, best of performance director, foreign coaches. We are also setting up two new astro turfs in Bangalore,” said Jitendra. “We would also be setting up a new infrastructure for hockey all over the country,” he added. The Minister today felicitated the Indian junior men’s hockey team by awarding a cheque of Rs one lakh to each of the 18 members and the head coach, Gregg Clark for winning 3rd Sultan Johar Cup tournament. The Minister also awarded each of the support staff a cheque of Rs 50,000. “I am very proud because the team has brought the lost charm and legacy of hockey. The commitment of the young people, who have got laurels to the country…nobody could be more proud than me,” said Jitendra. He also informed that the ministry is on the verge of introducing a performance measurement system for all coaches so that their performances could be analysed. (PTI)
10 metre ‘Shooting Talent Search’
SHILLONG: With an aim to promote shooting sports in Meghalaya, the Shooting Association of Meghalaya (SAM) registered under the Societies Registration Act XII of 1983 and affiliated to the National Rifle Association of India will organise the 10 metre Shooting Talent Search, on October 18 and 19. The two-day event will begin at Pynursla St. Anthonys Higher Secondary School stadium and the following day the talent hunt will shift base to St. Anthonys Higher Secondary School, Shillong. The event being conducted for two age groups (9 – 18 years, junior boys and girls and 18 years and above for men and women) will commence from 9 am onwards. The evnt will begin with weapons check and ID verification followed by introduction fo shooters from the State.
Jeev, Sujjan best-placed Indian; Bhullar tied 53rd in Macau
Macau: Jeev Milkha Singh and Sujjan Singh brought home a card of one-under 70 to emerge as best-placed Indians even but defending champion Gaganjeet Bhullar could manage only a two-over 73 to lie tied 53rd after the opening round of the wind-swept Venetian Macau Open here on Thursday. The 41-year-old Jeev sank as many as five birdies against four bogeys at the Macau Golf and Country Club. He picked up shots at second, third, sixth, 16th and 18th holes, while dropping bogeys at fifth, ninth, 11th and 15th holes. Sujjan, on the other hand, picked up birdies at the second, seventh, eighth holes and 15th holes against bogeys at the fourth, 12th and 16th holes. Last year’s winner Bhullar had a treacherous back nine as he dropped bogeys at the 10th, 11th, 12th and 17th holes, besides dropping a shot at the fifth hole in the first nine. He had birdies at the second, sixth and 18th holes. Among other Indians in fray, SSP Chowrasia, Arjun Atwal, Himmat RAI, Shankar Das scored one-over 72 to lie tied 37th spot, while Rahil Ganjee (73) and Anirban Lahiri (73) shared the tied 53rd place with Bhullar. At the top, Australian Scott Barr battled to a three-under 68 for the joint first round lead, along with Ben Campbell of New Zealand and Kalle Samooja of Finland at the USD 800,000 Asian Tour tournament. (PTI)
Mehta to clash with Advani in quarters of Indian Open
New Delhi: Indian cueist Aditya Mehta on Thursday set up a mouth-watering quarter-final clash against compatriot Pankaj Advani after ending the challenge of double World champion Mark Williams in the Indian Open snooker tournament here. History-making Mehta became only the second Indian cueist after Advani to reach the quarterfinal of the world ranking snooker event when he put it across World No.18 Williams 4-2 in a dramatic pre-quarterfinal finish. Advani had brought India on to the global map of snooker by storming into the quarterfinals of the Welsh Open earlier this year. The match between Advani and Mehta holds a lot of significance as it would be for the first time the two Indian cueists will be up against each other on the professional tour and whoever wins this evening will progress to the semi-finals of the ranking event, another first for India. In the morning session, Advani had notched up a hard-fought 4-3 win over World No.12 Stuart Bingham. Being made to play a 10am match after a long and intense game the previous night, Advani lived up to his reputation of overcoming adversity, closing out a worthy opponent Bingham in the decider of the best-of-seven frames. (PTI)
India to play Friendly vs Nepal in Chennai on November 19
New Delhi: The AIFF on Thursday confirmed that Indian football team will get a chance to play a second International Friendly against Nepal on November 19 in Chennai. India would now be playing on both the FIFA dates in November 2013 as an International Friendly against Philippines at the same venue on November 15 had been confirmed earlier. As per the October FIFA Rankings India are ranked at 154 while Nepal are at 165. India and Nepal have played 14 International Matches between them with India having won 9 matches. Nepal have won 3 matches including their 2-1 victory in the 2013 SAFF Championships in Kathmandu when the two Teams last met. Two matches have ended in a draw. (PTI)
TT: China eat into Indian medal tally
Mumbai: A minor Chinese incursion was good enough to deprive hosts India a clean sweep of team gold medals at the India Junior and Cadet Open with the visitors making short work of India A in the junior girls to take gold in the $8,000 event at the NSCI Stadium here Thursday. Two unranked Chinese — Yanmei Yang and Anqi Li — surprised India A’s Manika Batra and Suthirtha Mukherjee, ranked No.30 and No.60, respectively, to win the final 3-1. The other three categories saw the hosts winning the remaining three golds. All silvers also went India’s way along with a few bronzes. Earlier, India A combine Abhishek Yadav and Sudhanshu Grover defeated Chinmay Vinod and Sanish Ambekar of India E 3-0 in the junior boys final. (IANS)