Chelsea captain Reece James hits out at ‘hate and negativity’
London, Dec 22: Chelsea captain Reece James hit out at negative comments regarding his latest injury setback after undergoing hamstring surgery. The England right back limped off in the first half of Chelsea’s 2-0 loss at Everton on December 10 with a recurring hamstring injury and underwent an operation to try to solve the issue. It is James’ third hamstring problem in the past year, prompting what he said had been negative and abusive messages toward him on social media. “Since this injury I’ve had a good amount of support but significantly more hate and negativity,” James wrote on Instagram on Thursday. “Believe me, I don’t wanna be injured, I’m happiest when I’m playing football.” James added that his “recovery has started, both physically and mentally.” (AP)
Harmeet wins second natl TT title, Poymantee bags maiden crown
Panchkula, Dec 22: Top seed Harmeet Desai defeated second seed G Sathiyan 4-3 to claim his second men’s singles title in the 85th UTT Senior Nationals and Inter-State Table Tennis Championships at the Tau Devi Lal Indoor Stadium here on Friday. The women’s singles crown went to Poymantee Baisya of the Railways, another new face to claim it with some authority. She defeated Ayhika Mukherjee 4-2. The PSPB paddler, who won his first crown at the Jammu Nationals last season, is tied with Sathiyan. It was a just reward for his perseverance. But the win was not easy because at the other end of the table was Sathiyan, looking for his third title. Poymantee emerged as the newest singles champion when she beat Ayhika of RBI 4-2. Poymantee, who has had a fine run in the championships, cashed in on the opportunities and cleverly deployed her weapons. She played according to the situation and quickly got used to the pace of anti-rubbers that Sreeja Akula and Ayhika used. After knocking off Sreeja, it became easy for Poymantee to tackle her colleague, Ayhika. Defending champion Sreeja went out in the semifinals without a whimper, losing to young Poymantee 2-4. (PTI)
Sitwala wins maiden
National billiards title
Chennai, Dec 22: Dhruv Sitwala won his maiden senior National billiards title on Friday with a stunning 5-3 victory over his Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) colleague Sourav Kothari in the final here. Sitwala entered the final after shocking world champion Pankaj Advani by an identical margin in the last-four stage earlier in the day. Sitwala, runner-up last year, rallied to beat the experienced Kothari to cap off a memorable run that also saw him put it past defending champion Brijesh Damani in the pre-quarterfinals. (PTI)
Sift, Rhythm win again at
national shooting trials
NEW DELHI, Dec 22: Sift Kaur Samra and Rhythm Sangwan became the third and fourth shooters to win both the ongoing national selection trial matches when they registered victories in the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions and women’s 25m pistol competitions here on Friday. Navy’s Kiran Ankush Jadhav also joined the winners circle, with a victory in the men’s 10m air rifle T2 trial. Sift has been in the form of her life and gave another glimpse of that with a stunning 595 in qualification, which included a perfect 200 in the first kneeling position. In the women’s 25m pistol T2 trials, Manu Bhaker topped the qualifiers by firing a 590, but it was Rhythm who yet again piped her to the top spot. (PTI)