Senior Women’s National Football C’ship set to start in Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 26: he Senior Women’s National Football Championship (NFC) is set to start from November 28 in Kerala. A total of 32 teams, divided into eight groups will vie for the top honours at four venues – Municipal Stadium, Kuthuparamba; EMS Corporation Stadium, Kozhikode; Calicut University, Kozhikode; and Calicut Medical College, Kozhikode. The winners of qualifying matches will play the semi-finals, with the two winners from the last four proceeding to the final. (IANS)
Aditi tied 8th, Tvesa 39th in Andalucia Open in Spain
Marbella, Nov 26: India’s Aditi Ashok suffered a setback with a late double bogey but finished one-under 71 to be placed tied eighth after the first round of the Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España golf tournament here. The other Indian in the field, Tvesa Malik, who has had a steady season, was tied 39th after a round of three-over 75. After briefly holding a share of the lead, Aditi who started with a birdie-birdie and turned in three-under, had a rocky back nine. Tvesa had a bit of a struggle at the end of a long season, as she had only one birdie on seventh and had four bogeys for a 75. Tvesa sits in the 18th place on the Race to Costa Del Sol standings after playing 19 events, while Aditi is 34th, having played 10 events. Three players sit in a share of the lead on three-under-par after the first round. Spain’s Fatima Fernandez Cano, France’s Anne-Lise Caudal and Belgium’s Manon De Roey all fired rounds of 69 to be at the top of the leaderboard. (PTI)
Phuket Golf C’ship: Kochhar best Indian at Tied-15th
Phuket, Nov 26: Three birdies in the last four holes helped Karandeep Kochhar climb to Tied-15th with a two-under 70, making him the best-placed Indian golfer at the halfway stage of the USD one million Blue Canyon Phuket Championship here on Friday. He was five-under through 36 holes at the Canyon Course at Blue Canyon Country Club. Kocchar, after a first round 69, was one-over for 14 holes when he found three birdies in last four holes. Shiv Kapur, who had three birdies in the first six holes on the back nine had three other bogeys in his even par 72, was at Tied-23rd alongside Veer Ahlawat (70-70) at four-under. Viraj Madappa (69-72) was three-under and Tied-35th alongside Ajeetesh Sandhu (70-71) and S Chikkarangappa (68-73). Aadil Bedi made up for his first round 73 with a 69 and was T-56th. Veteran Jeev Milkha Singh (71-72), youngsters Aman Raj (72-71) and Khalin Joshi (71-72) made the cut on the line, while SSP Chawrasia (70-74), Honey Baisoya (69-76), Rashid Khan (76-72), Udayan Mane (77-72) missed out. (PTI)
Rio Olympic boss sentenced to jail for corruption
Sao Paulo, Nov 26: Carlos Arthur Nuzman, the head of the Brazilian Olympic Committee for more than two decades, was sentenced to 30 years and 11 months in jail for allegedly buying votes for Rio de Janeiro to host the 2016 Olympics. The ruling by Judge Marcelo Bretas became public on Thursday. Nuzman, who also headed the Rio 2016 organizing committee, was found guilty of corruption, criminal organization, money laundering and tax evasion. The 79-year-old executive won’t be jailed until all his appeals are heard. (AP)
Spain’s Alcaraz tests positive, out of Davis Cup Finals
Madrid, Nov 26: Carlos Alcaraz, the teenager touted as Rafael Nadal’s heir and the biggest name in Spain’s team at the Davis Cup Finals, tested positive for the coronavirus and was dropped from the squad. The 18-year-old Alcaraz, who was going to make his first Davis Cup appearance, said on social media he was sad to miss out on “such an important and special tournament like the Davis Cup.” Alcaraz was expected to play in the Group A meeting with Ecuador on Friday. (AP)
Manpreet to lead India in hockey Asian Champions Trophy
Bhubaneswar, Nov 26: Olympic bronze medal-winning captain Manpreet Singh will lead a 20-member Indian men’s hockey team, which doesn’t feature veteran goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, at next month’s Hero Asian Champions Trophy in Dhaka. While Manpreet will lead the side, star dragflicker Harmanpreet Singh has been named as the vice-captain for the tournament, to be held from December 14 to 22. India will play their opening match against Korea on December 14. (PTI)