Manika-Archana win women’s doubles title in Slovenia
Lasko (Slovenia), Nov 7: India’s Manika Batra and Archana Kamath tasted their first major success as a pair by winning the women’s doubles title at the WTT Contender Lasko here on Sunday. The world number 36 pairing beat the 23rd-ranked combine of Melanie Diaz and Adriana Diaz from Puerto Rico 11-3, 11-8, 12-10. The India duo saved four game points in third set to seal the match. Manika and Archana had to dig deep to beat China’s Liu Weishan and Wang Yidi in the semifinals on Saturday. In the women’s singles, Manika did well to reach the semifinals. (PTI)
Gokulam FC first Indian women club to play continental c’ship
Kolkata, Nov 7: For the first time in the history, Gokulam Kerala FC, an Indian women football club, will play in the continental championship and face Amman SC, Jordan league champions, in the opening match of AFC Women’s Club Championship in Aqaba (Jordan) on Sunday night. The Malabarians have sent a strong contingent of five foreigners and 10 national team players. Priya PV, current assistant coach of the Indian Senior Women’s National Team and also the coach of the team said, “In India, women’s football is growing exponentially. If we win the Championship, it will be a huge boost to our women footballers in the country. We have a good, strong squad, and aim nothing short of a title.” (UNI)
Haryana recurve archers top in 1st Khelo India North Zone meet
Sonepat, Nov 7: Haryana topped the medal tally in the recurve section, while Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, SAI National Centre of Excellence and Punjab also impressed in the first Khelo India Archery Tournament (North Zone) here on Sunday. The tournament was conducted for the archers from the northern zone – Delhi, Haryana, Chandigarh, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttrakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. A total of 91 recurve archers – 53 men and 38 women – and 76 compound archers – 49 men and 27 women – took part in the inaugural edition. (PTI)
Bottas takes pole as Mercedes goes 1-2 in Mexico qualifying
Mexico City, Nov 7: Mercedes got the front-row lockout for the start of the Mexico City Grand Prix. The challenge will be holding off the hard-charging Red Bulls and Max Verstappen over 71 laps on Sunday. Bottas starts from pole position and, most critically, Hamilton gets an early race advantage over Verstappen in their fight for the season championship. Verstappen leads Hamilton by 12 points with five races to go in Formula One’s best driver duel in years. (AP)
Lakshya, Srikanth lose Hylo semis
Saarbrucken, Nov 6: Indian challenge ended at Hylo Open Super 500 badminton tournament after both Kidambi Srikanth and Lakshya Sen suffered straight game defeats in their respective men’s singles semifinals here on Saturday. Lakshya went down fighting 18-21 12-21 to 39th ranked Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew. Srikanth suffered a narrow 19-21 20-22 loss to Malaysian Lee Zii Jia. (PTI)