Sindhu, Kashyap enter 2nd round in Basel
Basel: Top Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu, Parupalli Kashyap and Anand Pawar got off to winning starts, notching up victories in their respective opening round singles matches at the Swiss Grand Prix Gold tournament here on Wednesday. World championship bronze medallist Sindhu posted a comfortable 21-18, 21-15 victory over Malaysian Sannatasah Saniru to enter the second round of the women’s singles event. Kashyap and Pawar also reached the second round of the men’s singles competition with straight game victories. But it was curtains for Kidambi Srikanth in the men’s singles, while Saili Rane failed to cross the opening round hurdle in women’s singles. World No. 9 Sindhu will take on winner of the match between Li Michelle of Canada and Russia’s Ella Diehl in the next round. Meanwhile, Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Kashyap prevailed over The Netherlands’ Erik Meijs 21-17, 21-15. The third seed Indian will next take on German Lukas Schmidt in the next round. Anand, too, didn’t break much sweat before getting past Malaysia’s Kok Pong Loke 21-17, 21-10 in a 26-minute match last night, to set up a meeting with another German Tobias Wadenka. However, Thailand Grand Prix Gold winner, Srikanth, seeded fifth, could not reach the next stage after his gallant fight against Sweden’s Henri Hurskainen ended with a close 21-19, 18-21, 17-21 defeat. Third seeded Shixian Wang of China completely outplayed young Indian Saili 21-8, 21-9. The Indian mixed doubles pair of Tarun Kona and Ashwini Ponnappa also went down fighting against the Polish combo of Robert Mateusiak and Agnieszka Wojtkowska 10-21, 21-16, 13-21. In women’s doubles, Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa made an early exit as they lost to German pair of Isabel Herttrich and Carla Nelte 19-21, 21-13, 18-21 in a first round match. (PTI)
Pune FC draw in away AFC Cup match
Hong Kong: A spirited Pune FC fought back from a two-goal deficit to hold last year’s quarterfinalists Kitchee SC to a 2-2 draw in an AFC Cup group match here on Wednesday. Playing their first overseas encounter, Pune FC rallied with goals from Mirjan Pavlovic (55th) and winger Gabriel Fernandes (74th) after the five-time Hong Kong champions led 2-0 at half time through Fernando Recia (28th) and Juan Belencoso (42nd) in a Group H fixture at the Mong Kok Stadium. After this result, Pune are on two points from two draws while Kitchee are on four points from a win and a draw. Pune FC had played out a 2-2 draw against Myanmar side Nay Pyi Taw at home on February 26. Incidentally, Pavlovic scored a late goal that saw Pune rescue a point against Shillong Lajong FC in their last I-League match. (PTI)
IABF plans Nat’ls but no AIBA sanction
New Delhi: Terminated and humiliated they might be, but officials of the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation are planning to conduct the National Championships for youth (men) and senior women even as the International Boxing Association made it clear that such a move will not get its approval. The faction, which is led by former President Abhay Singh Chautala, is notifying various state units of the Youth National Championship in Hyderabad from May 18-23 and the fifth senior Women’s National Championships in New Delhi from May 8-11. The Women’s Nationals have been declared as the selection trials for the Commonwealth Games, scheduled from July 23 to August 3 in Glasgow. But the AIBA has made it clear that the events will have no sanctity given that the country’s membership has been terminated. (PTI)
2015 WC: Need aggressive skipper: Wasim
Karachi: Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram has raised question marks over the captaincy of Misbah-ul-Haq and said the PCB needs to appoint a brave and aggressive skipper for the 2015 World Cup. The former seamer told reporters here that while there was no question about Misbah’s batting, the situation was not the same about his captaincy. “They are question marks about his captaincy,” he said on Tuesday. Asked about the possibility of PCB appointing Shahid Afridi as captain for next World Cup, Wasim said this was something for the board to ponder and decide. “All I would say is that we need to have a brave and aggressive captain for the World Cup. Because we need to play positive cricket to do well,” he added. (IANS)