India bring up the rear at Winter Games
Sochi: India’s campaign at the Sochi Winter Olympic Games came to a disappointing end with Himanshu Thakur finishing 72nd in the men’s giant slalom event, here on Wednesday. The 20-year-old Himanshu, in his first Winter Olympics, clocked a combined timing of 3 minutes 37.55 seconds over two races to finish last among those who completed the race. A total of 107 skiers took part in the event and as many as 35 were either disqualified or could not finish. Ted Ligety of USA won the gold medal with a combined time of 2 minutes 45.29 seconds. Silver medallist Steve Missillier of France was 0.48 seconds slower with a time of 2:45.77. Alexis Pinturault of France took the bronze in 2:45.93. Three Indians had participated in the Sochi Winter Olympics and all of them have brought up rear positions in their respective events. Cross country skier Nadeem Iqbal had finished 85th in the men’s 15km classic run event out of 87 athletes who completed the race on February 14, while luger Shiva Keshavan ended 37th out of 39 competitors in the men’s singles event on February 9. (PTI)
ICC confirms World T20 squads
Dubai: The International Cricket Council confirmed 15 of the 16 men’s squads on Wednesday for next month’s ICC World Twenty20 to be held in Bangladesh. The cut-off date for the submission of the 15-player squads was February 16 and all but Zimbabwe submitted their list of names to the ICC before the deadline. Zimbabwe requested an extension, which was accepted by the ICC. The country’s cricket team is going through something of an upheaval with the players having been on strike over a failure to be paid. Bangladesh will square off against Afghanistan in the tournament opener in Mirpur on March 16, while former champions India and Pakistan will go head to head in the first match of the Super 10 stage at the same venue on March 21. The final will be played in Mirpur on April 6, while Chittagong and Sylhet are the other two venues that will be used for the tournament. Defending champions West Indies have retained 12 players who were members of the side that defeated Sri Lanka by 36 runs in Colombo to win the 2012 event. The three newcomers are Sheldon Cottrell, Andre Fletcher and Krishmar Santokie, who have replaced the experienced but injured trio of Darren Bravo, Fidel Edwards and Kieron Pollard. India have retained three players who were members of the side that defeated Pakistan by five runs in the inaugural event in Johannesburg in 2007. These players are captain MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma and Yuvraj Singh. However, six players from the 2012 event will return to Bangladesh as India aims to reclaim the title, namely Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ravichandran Ashwin, Rohit Sharma and Yuvraj. (PTI)
Shoulder injury forces Jeev to skip S Africa
Mumbai: Golfer Jeev Milkha Singh, who has been struggling with a right shoulder rotator cuff injury, said he will skip the Tshwane Open in South Africa scheduled for later this month to rest and regain his fitness ahead of the season without undergoing surgery. “I am not going to South Africa next week because I am not fit enough. I am going to practice for two weeks after this, get better and then try Morocco and then try take a month off, after that,” Jeev said. “With the month off, I am sure with the medicine, I should get better and I can work harder on my game also,” he told PTI here at the IPL-style Louis Phillipe Cup event that started on Wednesday. The Tshwane Open is scheduled from February 27-March 2 and after the tournament in Morocco, the star golfer is set to take another three-month break before returning to the course by taking part in the Malaysian Open scheduled from April 17. Meanwhile, Rahil Gangjee dominated the course with a dazzling eight-under 62 to grab the lead after the opening round of the Louis Philippe Cup. His round one exploits helped him set the course record at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club. Gangjee, along with his AVT Kolkata team mates Shankar Das and Chiragh Kumar, carded a net team score of 129 (11 under) to emerge leaders on the first day. In second are Krrish Colombo, Puravankara Bangalore and TAKE Chennai, who all ended with a score of 131 (9 under). “It’s awesome. I didn’t even know about the record. My best score on this course was 6-under as an amateur in 2000-01,” Gangjee said. (PTI)