1956 Olympics football squad member Nandy dies
Kolkata, Dec 29: A member of 1956 Olympics fourth-place finishing Indian football squad, Nikhil Nandy died here on Tuesday after a prolonged illness, according to family sources. He was 88, and is survived by his wife, a son and two daughters. Nandy, who formed the core of India’s defence in the late 1950s, battled COVID-19 in September-October but later developed some renal problems and had to be hospitalised for more than a month. (PTI)
Premier League reports highest weekly number of virus cases
London, Dec 29: The Premier League has reported its highest number of positive coronavirus cases in a single week. In a statement, the league says there were 18 positives after 1,479 tests on players and club staff from Dec. 21-27. No individuals were identified but Manchester City had previously announced that striker Gabriel Jesus and defender Kyle Walker tested positive last week. Further positives cases at City led to Monday’s game at Everton being postponed. The previous highest number of coronavirus cases after weekly testing in the Premier League was 16 last month. The rise is infections reflects the growth in coronavirus cases across Britain, where the death toll since the pandemic erupted in March is over 70,000. (AP)
ICA president happy with BCCI’s grant of Rs 3 crore
New Delhi, Dec 29: Indian Cricketers’ Association (ICA) president Ashok Malhotra on Tuesday expressed satisfaction at the BCCI’s decision to release an additional funding of Rs 3 crore to run the players’ body and hoped their pending demands will be met “sooner than later”. Malhotra, who has been critical of BCCI in the past for not addressing their demands, was pleased that at least one of their requests — increase in former players’ medical insurance from Rs five to Rs 10 lakh — have been approved. The demands, which have not been met yet, include pension for former players, who have played less than 25 first-class games, pension for widows of former cricketers and a benevolent fund to Manoj Prabhakar, whose BCCI ban ended in 2005 for match-fixing charges against him. (PTI)
Harikrishna bows out of Airthings Masters
Chennai, Dec 29: Indian Grandmaster P Harikrishna bowed out of the Champions Chess Tour Airthings Masters online championship after finishing ninth in the preliminary round. Harikrishna, who registered 10 draws and one loss, ended the tournament with five points. The top eight advanced to the knock-out stage. Though he finished on equal points with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France) and Daniil Dubov (Russia), the Prague-based Indian lost out because he did not secure any win and his loss to Dubov knocked him out. The India No. 2 drew against Lev Aronian, Wesley So and Teimour Radjabov in rounds 9, 10 and 11 late on Monday. He had drawn all his four games on the opening day on Saturday, including against world number one Magnus Carlsen, apart from the lone defeat. (PTI)
Troops in Manipur provide sports items, scholarships
Imphal, Dec 29: To accord due recognition and extend assistance to the meritorious students and sports persons, 59 Mountain Brigade in memory of Late Maj Bob Khating presented sports kits, stationery and scholarships in a presentation ceremony organized at Brilliance School, Malom, here today. The meritorious students/sports persons felicitated were from the districts of Imphal West, Imphal East, Bishnupur and Senapati. In all, 24 students and 14 sports persons were rewarded for their respective achievements. Major Gen VT Mathew, GOC Red Shield Division exhorted the audience to continue their quest towards peace and prosperity in the region. (UNI)