Man Singh and Jyoti Gawate win New Delhi Marathon titles
New Delhi, Feb 26: Man Singh ran his personal best to clinch the men’s title in an extremely competitive race while Jyoti Gawate defended the gold she won last time in the New Delhi Marathon here on Sunday. The 33-year-old Singh clocked 2:14:13s to shave off more than two-and-a-half minutes from his earlier personal best of 2:16:58 recorded during the Mumbai Marathon last month where he had finished second among Indian runners. Singh pocketed the winner’s cheque of Rs 1,50,000. Belliappa AB and Karthik Kumar took the silver and bronze respectively, clocking 2:14:15 and 2:14:19 to complete the 42.195km course. All the three podium finishers breached Hangzhou Asian Games entry standard of 2 hours and 15 minutes set by Athletics Federation of India (AFI). But merely breaching the entry standard does not guarantee an athlete a place in the Indian team for the upcoming Asian Games. The entry standard was just the cut off for consideration for selection and AFI will decide the team based on several factors, including medal winning prospect. (PTI)
Indian junior women’s hockey team drub South Africa A 4-0
New Delhi, Feb 26: The Indian junior women’s hockey team ended its tour of South Africa undefeated with a 4-0 win over the ‘A’ side of the host country. Deepika Sr broke the deadlock in the 13th minute by converting from the spot after South Africa conceded a penalty stroke. A few minutes later, Neelam (15th minute) doubled India’s lead by converting a penalty corner. Annu (35th) and Sunlita Toppo (50th) scored in the second half to seal the victory late Saturday night. The South Africa tour was a part of the team’s preparations for the U-21 Asia Cup, which serves as a qualifier for the upcoming FIH Junior Women’s World Cup. The Indian team had earlier defeated the South African U-21 team in all three games. The visitors were held to a 4-4 draw by South African ‘A’ team in their last match on Friday. (PTI)
Medvedev beats Murray in final to win Doha on debut
Doha, Feb 26: Daniil Medvedev won the Qatar Open on debut when he defeated Andy Murray 6-4, 6-4 in a final match-up of former No. 1s. Medvedev converted fast starts in each set. He reached 4-1 in the first and 3-1 in the second. Murray fought back but Medvedev stifled him and earned his 17th singles title. “Sometimes we were playing bad, then suddenly both of us were playing amazing,” Medvedev said. “I’m happy to win.” Medvedev also won in Rotterdam last weekend and his winning streak is at nine matches. After playing in a record fifth Doha final, Murray said, “It was fantastic to be back in a final here again and against an incredible player. Daniil is one of my favorite players to watch and one of the best players on the tour. It’s great for me to get that opportunity to play against someone of his level in a final again.” (AP)
Krejcikova upsets top-ranked Swiatek in Dubai final
Dubai, Feb 26: Top-ranked Iga Swiatek was upset by Barbora Krejcikova 6-4, 6-2 in the final of the Dubai Championships. Krejcikova closed the tournament by beating the top three players in the WTA rankings: No. 3 Jessica Pegula in the quarterfinals, No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals, then Swiatek. No. 8 Daria Kasaktina was also overcome in the second round. The Czech is the fifth woman in the Open era to beat the world’s top three at the same event. “It’s a big achievement and I think it’s going to give me a lot of confidence that I can play with the best ones,” Krejcikova said. The former French Open champion dominated the final, breaking Swiatek five times. The Pole earned two breaks back in the first set, but Krejcikova then played out a love break and held to love for the set. In the second, she broke for 2-1 and 5-2 and easily held serve to win her sixth singles title. (AP)