China win women’s TT team World Cup
Dubai: The Chinese women’s table tennis team won the gold medal in the Team World Cup, defeating North Korea 3-0 in the final Sunday. Zhu Yuling, Liu Shiwen and Ding Ning all won their games. Liu beat Ri Mi Gyong 3-2, while Zhu defeated Ri Myong Sun 3-2. Ding paired up with Liu to crush Ri Mi Gyong/Kim Hye Song 3-0, reports Xinhua. With the victory, the Chinese team took home $50,000 prize money while North Korea as the runners-up won $25,000. Twelve women’s teams and as many men’s teams participated in the tournament. (IANS)
Iran beat Bahrain 2-0 in Asian Cup
Melbourne: Iran defeated Bahrain 2-0 in an Asian Cup football tournament match here Sunday. As Asia’s highest-ranked team, Iran displayed their strong attacking ability, taking 14 shots at target in a Group C match, reports Xinhua. Iran wasted several chances in the first half. In the 20th minute, they missed a golden chance, by forward Ashkan Dejagah, who was one-on-one with Bahrain’s goalkeeper Sayed Mohamed Abbas, but his shot was blocked by the keeper. Bahrain conceded only one goal in their qualification campaign for the Asian Cup and were well composed defensively. But just at the stroke of half time, they failed to deal with a corner properly and Iran defender Haji Safi scored from the rebound. The defender controlled with his left foot and struck with his right, firing a brilliant volley into the top corner. In the 71st minute, Iran secured victory through Masoud Shojaei, who volleyed a corner into the net. (IANS)
Kumar wins maiden junior national snooker title
Kolkata: Continuing his dream run, 20-year-old Delhi lad Avinash Kumar pocketed his maiden junior snooker title in the National Billiards & Snooker Championship here on Sunday. The qualifier, who stormed into top four by ousting top seed Ishpreet Chadha yesterday, cleared all three round robin matches beating M L Laxman of Karnataka 4-1, Hrithik Jain (Madhya Pradesh) 4-2 and S Shrikrishna (Tamil Nadu) 4-1 en route to his first ever national title. The Delhi player, who advanced from the qualifiers, has lost only three frames in the meet — two against Hrithik and one to Shrikrishna. “I was confident of going all the way having defeated the top seed (Chadha) yesterday . I lost three frames today as I took time to get back my rhythm and seal the issue,” Avinash, who aspires to don India colours, said. There was a three-way tie among Jain, Laxman and Srikrishna as they finished second, third and fourth respectively on frames average. (PTI)
Dhyan Chand should have got Bharat Ratna first: Milkha
New Delhi: Legendary athlete Milkha Singh on Sunday said hockey wizard Dhyan Chand should have been the first sportsperson to be conferred with the country’s highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna. “Dhyan Chand should have got Bharat Ratna first. Dhyan Chand was the most deserving candidate,” Milkha told reporters. The ‘Flying Sikh’ though felt that bestowing the honour on cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar has opened the door for the other Indian sportspersons. “It was good that it was given to Sachin. It has opened the door for sportspersons. But the first to get it should have been Dhyan Chand,” he added. The 80-year-old Milkha, best remembered for his fourth-place finish in the 400 metres final at the 1960 Olympic Games, also spoke about the controversy surrounding shuttler Saina Nehwal’s reported demand for the Padma Bhushan award. “Her association should have said that she is deserving and that she should get the award. But if you ask for awards yourself, it is wrong,” Milkha said. (PTI)