Saurabh smashes world record in finals to win air pistol trials
NEW DELHI, Jan 15: India ace and world number 4 Saurabh Chaudhary smashed the finals world record with a stunning 246.9 to win the 10m air pistol T1 men’s trials at the ongoing national shooting trials here on Friday. Haryana’s Manu Bhaker also emerged victorious in the T1 women’s 10m air pistol trials at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting range. (PTI)
SAI appoints Snesarev as Indian athletics’ coach
NEW DELHI, Jan 15: The Sports Authority of India (SAI) on Friday said it has approved the appointment of Belarus’ Nikolai Snesarev as the middle and long distance coach of the Indian athletics team, little less than two years after he quit the post. The 72-year-old has been appointed till the end of September, a period which will include the Tokyo Olympics scheduled to take place in July-August. (PTI)
Daruvala to stay with Red Bull Racing for another year
VIENNA, Jan 15: Promising Indian racer Jehan Daruvala was on Friday handed a one-year extension by Red Bull Racing team, which will enable him to compete along side Carling in the upcoming Formula 2 season. The 22-year-old, who is being hailed as the next big thing in Indian motorsports, created history last month, when he successfully culminated his maiden FIA Formula 2 Championship with a well-deserved victory. (PTI)
Six Indians in top-10 of BWF world junior rankings
New Delhi, Jan 15: Young shuttlers Varun Kapur and Samiya Imad Farooqui have attained career-best second spots in their respective categories in the latest BWF’s junior world rankings, which features six Indians in the top-10. (PTI)
Auckland City out of Club World Cup
ZURICH, Jan 15: Coronavirus restrictions in New Zealand have caused next month’s Club World Cup to shrink from seven teams to six. Auckland City told FIFA on Friday it could no longer represent Oceania at the tournament in Qatar because of the “COVID-19 pandemic and related quarantine measures required by the New Zealand authorities.” (AP)
CONCACAF resets men’s Olympic qualifying
MIAMI, Jan 15: Men’s Olympic soccer qualifying in North and Central America and the Caribbean was rescheduled for March 18-30 in Guadalajara, Mexico, where the tournament originally was set to be played last spring. The men’s Olympic soccer tournament was postponed a year — to July 21 through Aug. 7, 2021. (AP)
Sandgren to fly to Australia despite COVID-19 result
MELBOURNE, Jan 15: Tennys Sandgren forced an early clarification of the COVID-19 rules as the first of 15 charter flights began flying Down Under to deliver players for the Australian Open. The two-time Australian Open quarterfinalist was given a special clearance to board one of the flights from Los Angeles to Melbourne despite testing positive to COVID-19 in November and again on Monday. The first of about 1,200 players, coaches, entourage and officials landed late Thursday. (AP)