Joshna Chinappa enters Japan Open squash semifinals
New Delhi, Oct 12: Seasoned Indian squash player Joshna Chinappa defeated Egyptian Nardine Garas in straight games to storm into the semifinals of the Japan Open PSA Challenger event in Yokohama, Japan. The 39-year-old former women’s world No 10 beat Egyptian second seed Garas 11-8, 15-13, 11-9 in the quarterfinals on Saturday. Joshna will now take on fourth seed Egyptian Rana Ismail in the last-four stage. Earlier, the former Asian champion defeated French fifth seed Lauren Baltayan in the second round, and Malaysian Anrie Goh in the opening round. (PTI)
Abhay makes winning start at Silicon Valley Open
New Delhi, Oct 12: India’s Abhay Singh made a winning start at the Silicon Valley Open squash but his compatriots Velavan Senthilkumar and Ramit Tandon lost their opening matches at the PSA Gold event in Redwood City, USA. World No. 29 Abhay beat Karim El Hammamy of Egypt 12-10, 11-7, 13-11, and will meet French world No. 9 and fifth seed Victor Crouin in the second round of the $130,500 tournament on Saturday. (PTI)
Basant, Narpat win gold but miss World U-20 qualification mark
Bhubaneswar, Oct 12: Rajasthan’s 18-year-old high jumper Basant was among a few athletes who narrowly missed the qualification mark for the World U-20 Athletics Championships on the third day of the National Junior Championships here on Sunday. Competing in the men’s U-20 category, Basant clinched gold with a best clearance of 2.11m, falling agonisingly short of the 2.12m qualifying mark for the World U20 Championships. His teammate Narpat Singh also endured a similar fate in the hammer throw, missing the qualifying mark by a slender margin. Singh won gold in the men’s U-20 event with a throw of 67.45m, just shy of the required 68m. (PTI)
Pakistan athletics federation bans Arshad Nadeem’s coach
Lahore, Oct 12: Salman Iqbal, the long serving coach of Pakistan’s top athlete Arshad Nadeem, was on Sunday banned for life by the country’s Athletics Federation for violating the constitution of the Punjab Athletics Association, where he holds the position of President. Under the life ban, Iqbal cannot take part in any athletics activities nor coach or hold office at any level. The violations the Pakistan Amateur Athletics Federation has accused Iqbal of committing is holding elections of the Punjab body in August. An inquiry committee was formed in mid-September and it recommended the ban on Iqbal on October 10, a day after his reply to the PSB came out. The decision appears to be linked to the recent crisp reply Iqbal had sent to the state-run Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) when they asked him to explain Nadeem’s poor show in the World Athletics Championship in Tokyo. PSB also demanded to know details about the expenses incurred on the javelin thrower’s training and travel. (PTI)
Tennis player who said kiss caused positive dope test gets suspension
London, Oct 12: A professional tennis player who said a kiss caused a positive methamphetamine drug test was suspended for four years by the International Tennis Integrity Agency. Goncalo Oliveira, who represents Venezuela, was provisionally suspended in January following a positive test in November 2024 while competing at the ATP Challenger event in Manzanillo, Mexico. Both his A and B samples contained the banned substance. The Portuguese-born player denied taking the drug and made his argument at a hearing with an independent tribunal, which decided Oliveira couldn’t prove the drug’s presence was unintentional. Oliveria receives credit for time served from his provisional suspension, meaning he will be eligible to compete professionally again on January 16, 2029. This is not the first time an athlete has said a positive drug test happened because of kissing. French Olympic fencer Ysaora Thibus was cleared in July by the Court of Arbitration of a doping allegation after judges accepted she was contaminated with the anabolic substance Ostarine in 2024 by kissing her American partner over a period of nine days. She was later cleared by an International Fencing Federation tribunal weeks before the Paris Olympics, which let her compete there. (AP)
