Mercedes’ Antonelli wins Canadian GP for his 4th straight F1 victory
Montreal, May 25: Kimi Antonelli went from furious to victorious. A day after clashing with Mercedes teammate George Russell in a heated sprint race, the 19-year-old Italian star won a wild Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday for his fourth straight victory. Russell dropped out with an engine failure after the title-chasing Mercedes duo put on a show in a thrilling fight through 30 laps, trading the lead several times and coming dangerously close to making contact. Then trouble struck for Russell, giving Antonelli a clear path to the finish – and a commanding championship lead. Antonelli finished more than 10 seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton. The spotlight shifted to two longtime rivals once Russell’s day ended, with Hamilton chasing down Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in a throwback to 2021. The seven-time world champion finally overtook Verstappen for second with six laps to go in cold and windy conditions at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve for his best result since joining Ferrari last year. (AP)
Akshay, Vicky strike gold in freestyle; Women eye medal rush
Da Nang (Vietnam), May 25: India continued their impressive run at the U-23 Wrestling Asian Championships with freestyle grapplers Akshay T Dhere and Vicky claiming stunning gold medals here on Monday. Akshay set the tone in the 57kg weight class by edging past Kazakhstan’s Yelaman Amangeldi with a gritty 4-2 victory to claim the title. Vicky soon doubled the joy for the Indian camp in the 97kg division, pulling off a thrilling 7-5 win against Uzbekistan’s Sherzod Poyonov to secure the top spot on the podium. In the 53kg final, Muskan beat Vietnam’s Thi My Linh Nguyen, registering a comfortable 6-2 win to clinch the title. Tapsya was even more dominant in the 57kg category, securing her gold medal with a victory by fall over Kazakhstan’s Altyn Shagayeva while leading 4-0. Bhagyashree H. Fand added another gold to India’s tally in the 62kg division, blanking Kyrgyzstan’s Tynys Dubek 4-0 in her title clash, while Pulkit (65kg) continued the gold rush with 4-0 and 4-1 wins over Kyrgyzstan’s Tynys Dubek and Mongolia’s Narkhajid Nyamsuren respectively. Amruta Shashikant Pujari took home the silver in the 72kg division after a 2-4 l to Mongolia’s Odgerel Edene Ochir. (PTI)
Dahiya, Sharad move CAT seeking regularisation of Delhi govt jobs
New Delhi, May 25: Tokyo Olympics silver medallist wrestler Ravi Kumar Dahiya and Paralympic high jumper Sharad Kumar have approached the Central Administrative Tribunal seeking regularisation of their services as Assistant Directors of Education (Sports) with the Delhi government, alleging that they have been kept on repeated ad hoc extensions despite discharging regular administrative duties for years. In separate but similarly worded petitions, the two athletes argued that they had left secure government jobs to join the Government of NCT of Delhi after being offered Group ‘A’ positions in recognition of their international achievements and with an expectation of eventual regularisation. Sharad, a bronze medallist at the Tokyo Paralympics and silver medallist at the Paris Paralympics, stated that he had resigned from a permanent position with the Sports Authority of India, where he had served as athletics (Para) coach, to join the Delhi government in 2022. The petitions contended that although the appointments were initially described as ad hoc for six months or till regular appointment, the memoranda also contained a two-year probation clause, creating a “legitimate expectation” that the athletes’ services would eventually be regularised. Both athletes said they have continued to perform “perennial governmental functions” in the Sports Branch, including supervision of selection trials, inspection of stadiums and sports centres, evaluation of coaches and work related to Khelo India programmes. (PTI)
