Football:Argentina beat Brazil 1-0 to secure spot at Olympics
CARACAS, Feb 12: Brazil will not defend its Olympic men’s footballtitle in Paris after losing 1-0 to its regional rival Argentina.In the decisive South American Olympic qualifier, Luciano Gondou scored the winner for the Argentina under-23 team coached by Javier Mascherano. He headed a cross from Valentin Barco past goalkeeper Mycael in the 78th minute at the Brigido Iriarte Stadium in Caracas.Brazil won gold at men’s soccer in the Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo.South America’s Olympic qualifying for men’s football offered two spots in Paris. Paraguay ended on the top of the table of the final group stage with seven points in three matches after its 2-0 win on Sunday against host Venezuela.The Paraguayan team, which didn’t have star players like its two bigger continental rivals, also beat Brazil to secure its spot for France.Argentina finished the tournament with five points, two more than Brazil, which only managed to beat Venezuela in the final stage.Argentina had the upper hand in the first half but the defensive stance of Brazil, didn’t help bring much emotion to the match. World Cup winner Thiago Almada hit the post in the 16th minute.Argentina’s Leandro Brey made the best save of the game in the 61st, when substitute Gabriel Pec struck hard from close range. Brazil did not keep up the pressure, with striker Endrick once more playing below par. And then Gondou’s header made the difference between the two teams. Paraguay’s surprising spot in Paris came after Diego Gómez scored from the spot early in the second half and Marcelo Pérez pushed the ball with his head to an empty goal in the 75th minute after a bizarre mistake of the Venezuelan defense. Paraguay’s men’s football team has given the small South American nation one of its few medals in Olympic history; a silver in 2004 after losing the final against Argentina. Argentina won the gold in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, with Messi leading the team in Beijing. Brazil last failed to make the Olympics in 2004. (PTI)
‘National’ Marathon to be held on February 25 in New Delhi
NEW DELHI, Feb 12: The ninth edition of New Delhi Marathon, recognised by Athletics Federation of India (AFI) as a national event and a qualifying meet for Paris Olympics, will be held at the JLN Stadium here on February 25.The top five finishers among the elite runners – both men and women – will receive prize money. Both the men’s and women’s marathon winners will pocket Rs 1.5 lakh while the second place finishers will get Rs 1 lakh.The third, fourth and fifth place finishers will win Rs 50,000, Rs 30,000 and Rs 30,000 respectively.“The 9th Edition of New Delhi Marathon 2024 is scheduled to be held on 25th February 2024 at JLN Stadium New Delhi stands recognized by Athletics Federation of India as National Marathon,” the AFI said in a circular.“It is pertinent to mention that this Marathon will be a Paris Olympics qualifying event.” The Paris Olympics marathon race qualifying times for men and women are 2 hours 8 minutes and 10 seconds and 2 hours 26 minutes and 50 seconds respectively.No Indian marathoner ran in the Tokyo Olympics and no one is yet to qualify for the Paris Games. The qualifying window ends on June 30. Last year, Man Singh won the men’s elite race in a time of 02:14:13 while Jyoti Shankar Gawate took the top prize among women with 02:53:04. (PTI)
India sign off without a medal from Rabat Shotgun World Cup
RABAT, Feb 12: Ganemat Sekhon and Munek Battula finished 12th in the final skeet mixed team event on Monday as India ended their campaign at the ISSF Shotgun World Cup in Rabat, Morocco, without a medal.The duo shot a combined score of 140 after three qualification rounds each as the USA topped with 149.A second Indian pair, Abhay Singh Sekhon and Areeba Khan shot 134 to take 17th place.Italy was at the top of the medal tally, sweeping all four golds on offer before the skeet mixed team final. (PTI)