27 men, 13 women part of elite field at 25k Kolkata Run
KOLKATA, Dec 9: As many as 27 men and 13 women will represent the Indian elite field at the Tata Steel World 25K Kolkata Run here on December 15.The event offers equal prize money for the Indian elite men and women winners with the top three in each category pocketing Rs 2,75,000, Rs 2,00,000, and Rs 1,50,000 respectively.“The Indian Elite men and women runners will also be further incentivised by an Event Record Bonus of Rs 1,00,000 each,” said the organisers in a statement.Avinash Sable holds the current event record in the Indian elite men’s category, with a time of 1:15:17s, and L Suriya holds it among women clocking 1:26:53s.Sanjeevani Jadhav will be the pre-race favourite in the women’s field. She recently won the TCS World 10K Bengaluru 2024 and also earned a silver medal at the Asian Cross Country Championship. (PTI)
Ben Curran, brother of Tom & Sam, earns Zimbabwe call-up
HARARE, Dec 9: Zimbabwe has called up Ben Curran, brother of England cricket stars Sam and Tom Curran, for this month’s one-day series at home to Afghanistan.Two months ago, the 28-year-old batsman announced his willingness to play for the country, following in the footsteps of his late Zimbabwean-born father Kevin Curran.“Curran earns his place following stellar performances in domestic cricket,” Zimbabwe Cricket said in a statement on Monday.Ben Curran was born in Northampton when his father, one of Zimbabwe’s best players, was performing on the English county circuit.His brothers, who were also born outside their father’s homeland, went on to represent England despite all three siblings being raised in Zimbabwe.Curran is now likely to feature in two tests against Afghanistan on Boxing Day and in the New Year. The ODI series begins in Harare on December 17.With Zimbabwe set to tour England in 2025, history could be made next year, brothers playing against each other. (PTI)
Pooja scales new heights in high jump at Junior Nationals
BHUBANESWAR, Dec 9: Haryana’s international high jumper Pooja improved upon her own U-18 national record on the third day of the 39th National Junior Championships at the Kalinga Stadium here on Monday.The 17-year-old Pooja scaled 1.85m to improve her own jump national record during heptathlon competition. Her previous national record of 1.83m was recorded during World U-20 Athletics Championships in Lima, Peru in August.Delhi promising quarter-miler Jay Kumar had been impressive earlier this season in the 400m and he continued to dominate the track here on Monday.On his way to the gold medal in the men’s U-20 400m race, he clocked 46.29 seconds to better the meet record of 46.59 seconds set by Amoj Jacob in 2017.The girls’ U-16 javelin throw saw intense competition with top six throwers bettering the national record.Haryana’s Muskan, however, walked away with the gold medal. Her best throw was 46.87m which was better than the previous U-16 national record of 40.01m set by Shivani Patel this year. (PTI)
Aditi, Marianne pair wins women’s event at bridge meet
PUNE, Dec 9: The pair of Aditi Zaveri and Marianne Karmarkar won the women’s title at the Ashok Ruia Memorial Winter National Bridge Tournament here on Monday.The winners aggregated 79.34 points. Vasanti Shah and Gopika Tandan finished second with 63.01 points while the combination of Alka Kshirsagar and Bharati Dey finished third with 44.46 points.The competition has been sanctioned by the Bridge Federation of India and the Maharashtra Bridge Association. (PTI)