India go down fighting to Pak in champions trophy hockey
Kakamigahara (Japan): A young Indian hockey team went down fighting to Pakistan 4-5 at the 3rd Men’s Asian Champions Trophy here on Thursday. India scored through Gurjinder Singh (24th min), Amit Rohidas (30th min), Manpreet Singh (40th min) and Malak Singh (49th min) while Abdul Haseem Khan (2nd min), Mohammad Imran (35th min), Mohammad Rizwan (36th & 44th min) and Mohammad Rizwan Junior (53rd min) scored for Pakistan. India will now face Malaysia in their last league match on Friday. (IANS)
Russian rocket takes Sochi Olympic torch to space
BAIKONUR: Russia sent the Olympic torch into space with a three-man crew that blasted off to the International Space Station on Thursday, three months before the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi. The torch, unlit for safety reasons, was part of the payload of a Soyuz spacecraft that lifted off from the Russian-leased Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan. Two Russian cosmonauts are to take the torch out on a space walk on Saturday – the first time an Olympic torch is to be carried into open space. Olympic torches were brought along on US space shuttle voyages before the 1996 and 2000 Games. The torch is to be returned to Earth on Monday to continue a 65,000-km relay culminating with the start of the Olympics in Sochi on Feb 7. (Reuters)
Norwegian capital Oslo to bid for 2022 Winter Olympics
Oslo: The Norwegian capital Oslo will bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics, Ingunn Olsen, a spokeswoman for the bidding committee said on Thursday. “We will confirm our intention to be a candidate for hosting the games before the Nov 14 deadline,” Olsen said, adding that a formal letter had not yet been sent. Besides Oslo, so far, bids have been announced by Beijing and the northern Chinese city of Zhangjiakou, Lviv from Ukraine, and Almaty from Kazakhstan. The International Olympic Committee will finalise the candidate list in July 2014 and select the 2022 host in July 2015. (IANS)
Ronaldinho to play in World
Club Championship
Brasilia: Two-time World Player of the Year, Ronaldinho Gaucho, has confirmed he is winning his race to be fit for the World Club Championship in December. The Atletico Mineiro attacking midfielder is recovering quicker than expected from a strained left thigh and could return to action before the tournament kicks-off in Morocco at the beginning of next month, reported Xinhua. Ronaldinho was on Wednesday named as an ambassador for the World Cup host city of Belo Horizonte and took the opportunity to speak about his imminent comeback. “The recovery is good. I am no longer feeling pain and I am already doing some training activities. I am very happy. I am preparing to play in the World Club Championship and I hope I can return beforehand,” he said. The 33-year-old has been out since Sep 27 but his club will hope to have him back if they are to emulate Corinthians’ success last year. (Reuters)