Verstappen dominates Styrian GP for 4th win of F1 season
Spielberg, (Austria), June 27: Formula One championship leader Max Verstappen dominated the Styrian Grand Prix on Sunday to win back-to-back races for the first time in his career. With a clean start from pole, the Red Bull driver denied Lewis Hamilton an early attack and he remained ahead for the entire race, beating his Mercedes rival by more than 35 seconds. Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas finished third ahead of Sergio Perez as Red Bull and Mercedes occupied the top four places for the second consecutive time. The car was on fire, Verstappen said over the team radio after crossing the finish line. It was Verstappen’s 14th career win and fourth of the season, increasing his lead over the seven-time world champion in the drivers’ standings to 18 points after eight races. (AP)
Krishan Kumar, Harmilan Bains bag men’s and women’s 800m gold
Patiala, June 27: Krishan Kumar of Haryana and Harmilan Bains of Punjab claimed the men’s and women’s 800m gold medals respectively with comfortable wins on the third day of the National Inter-State Athletics Championships here on Sunday. Kumar grabbed lead at the bell and pulled away from the pack to add another gold to the Federation Cup title he won in March. Harmilan Bains enjoyed the vocal support of the handful of supporters at the NIS as she left M R Poovamma in her wake after the first lap and opened up a sizable lead despite being shadowed by Delhi pair of Shalu Chaudhary and Chanda. The 22-year-old Harmilan won in 2:02.57. (PTI)
Fraser-Pryce wins Jamaican 100, seeks third Olympic gold
Kingston, June 27: Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce cruised to a victory in the 100 meters at the Jamaican national championships and will head to Tokyo in search of her third Olympic gold medal. Fraser-Pryce ran the final Friday night in 10.71 seconds to defeat Shericka Jackson by .11. Elaine Herah finished third. Her victory sets up a matchup with American champion Sha’Carri Richardson, who is 13 years younger than Fraser-Pryce. In the men’s 100, Yohan Blake qualified for his third Olympics by finishing second behind Tyquendo Tracey. (AP)
Stricter Covid protocols for Indian contingent for Olympics
Tokyo, June 27: India is among six South Asian countries whose athletes, coaches and officials will have to take Covid-19 tests every day for seven days prior to their departure for Japan for the Olympic Games. Japan’s state broadcaster NHK said on Sunday that athletes and all other members of delegations from India, Nepal, Pakistan, the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan will face stricter countermeasures because of the spreading Delta variant, which was first identified in India, reports Xinhua. NHK added that the measures would take effect on July 1. (IANS)
Venus to pair with Kyrgios in Wimbledon mixed doubles
London, June 27: American Venus Williams will team up with Australian Nick Kyrgios to play the mixed doubles at Wimbledon, starting on Monday. Winner of 13 Grand Slam titles in singles, doubles and mixed, the 41-year-old Venus is the winner of five Wimbledon singles titles, with the last coming in 2008. If the Venus-Kyrgios pair clicks at Wimbledon this year, it will be after a gap of 23 years that the American will lift the mixed doubles trophy after she won the last of her two Grand Slam titles in the event at the French Open in 1998. The 26-year-old Kyrgios, on the other hand, has one of the biggest serves on the ATP Tour and the farthest he has gone at Wimbledon is securing a last-eight berth in 2014. (IANS)
Serena Williams says she will not play at the Tokyo Olympics
Wimbledon, June 27: Serena Williams said she will not go to the Tokyo Olympics, but did not want to say why during her pre-Wimbledon video conference with reporters Sunday. “I’m actually not on the Olympic list. … Not that I’m aware of. If so, then I shouldn’t be on it,” Williams said. The 39-year-old Williams has won four gold medals at past Summer Games for the United States: in both singles and doubles. All of her doubles golds were won with her older sister, Venus, as her partner. Other top tennis players such as Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem also have said they’ll skip the trip to Japan, where the Olympics open on July 23, a year after being postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. (AP)