Neeraj-led four Indians to compete in Doha Diamond League
Doha, May 11: Star Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra will have the company of three other compatriots in the Doha leg of the prestigious Diamond League Meeting on May 16 as the country will have maximum representation ever in a DL event. Chopra, who won the title here in 2023 (88.67m) and finished second in 2024 (88.36m), will be joined by Kishore Jena in the men’s javelin throw. Jena took part in 2024 also and had finished ninth with a throw of 76.31m. The star-studded field in the men’s javelin throw will have the likes of two-time world champion and Paris Olympics bronze winner Anderson Peters of Grenada, 2024 winner Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic, Julian Weber and Max Dehning of Germany, Julius Yego of Kenya and Roderick Genki Dean of Japan. The other two Indians in the fray are national record holder Gulveer Singh, who is making his Diamond League debut, in men’s 5000m and Parul Chaudhary in the women’s 3000m steeplechase. (PTI)
Karthikeyan, Rout finish 4th in Asian blitz chess
Al Ain (UAE), May 11: Grandmaster Murali Karthikeyan signed off in fourth place at the Asian Individual Blitz Chess Championship, with Padmini Rout replicating the result in the women’s section to emerge as the top Indian performers here. The open section was won by 15-year-old Grandmaster Ivan Zemlyanskiia who represents Russia but competed under the FIDE flag. He scores a dominant 8 out of 9 points. Fellow 15-year-old Iran’s Sina Mohaved finished second on 7.5 points ahead of Rudik Makarian of Russia who had 7 points but the best tiebreak score. Alua Nurman of Kazakhstan won the women’s event ahead of Russian Valentina Gunina. (PTI)
Indian men’s, mixed 4x400m teams fail to qualify for World C’ships
Guangzhou, May 11: India’s campaign at the World Athletics Relays ended in disappointment as the men’s 4x400m and mixed 4x400m teams missed out on qualifying for the World Championships, to be held in Tokyo later this year. The mixed 4x400m team of Santhosh Kumar Tamilarasan, Rupal Chaudhary, Thennarasu Kayalvizhi Vishal and Subha Venkatesan clocked 3 minutes 14.81 seconds to finish fourth in heat number 2. The top three teams in each of the two heats qualified for the Worlds – scheduled for September 13-21 in the Japanese capital. On Saturday, the Indians had clocked 3:16.85 seconds to finish fifth in heat number 3. They got another chance on Sunday to book the World Championships berth but failed to do so. Eight teams booked their World Championships berths on Saturday. The men’s 4x400m quartet of Jay Kumar, Dharmveer Choudhary, Thekkinalil Saji Manu and Rince Joseph did worse, finishing seventh with a time of 3:04.49.On Saturday, the Indian men’s 4x400m team had clocked 3:03.92 to finish fifth in their heat. They got another chance on Sunday to book the World Championships berth but failed to do so. (PTI)
India’s Nirupama Devi finishes 4th in Asian Weightlifting C’ships
Jiangshan (China), May 11: Two failed clean and jerk attempts cost Indian weightlifter Nirupama Devi a bronze medal as she finished fourth in the women’s 64kg category at the Asian Championships here on Sunday. The 24-year-old, an Asian Youth Weightlifting Championships medallist, managed 115kg in clean and jerk as she faltered in her attempts to heave 120kg and 125kg, adding to her 91kg snatch for a total of 206kg in the non-Olympic category. A successful 125kg lift would have taken the Manipur lifter past South Korea’s Mun Min-hee, who claimed bronze. (PTI)