Kothari survives Chulho scare; Advani begins in style
Carlow (Ireland), April 25: Reigning champion Sourav Kothari survived a scare before beating Hwang Chulho in his opening match of the IBSF World Billiards Championship that got underway here on Saturday. The Indian ace overcame South Korea’s Chulho 305-238 after being down by over 120-odd points with about 30 minutes to go. Kothari, also the reigning national champion, came up with a crucial break of 111 to put it past the tricky Korean. The 41-year-old will look to make amends in his next match against France’s Akhilesh Mohan. Former champion Pankaj Advani registered a runaway 1003-54 win over Michael Crook of Isle of Man was the highlight of the day. Dhruv Sitwala, looking for his maiden world title, began his campaign with a workmanlike 645-115 win over Carl-Walter Steiner of Austria in a Group ‘C’ match. Seasoned Alok Kumar scored a lopsided 502-202 win over Aonghus McAnally of Ireland in another Group ‘C’ match (PTI)
Ugandan duo Sarah, Harbert eye top honours at TCS World 10K
Bengaluru, April 25: Defending champion Sarah Chelangat and Harbert Kibet aim to make an Ugandan double by winning the women’s and men’s titles respectively in the 18th edition of the TCS World 10K, a World Athletics Gold Label Road Race, here on Sunday. Sarah was not fully fit when she won the title last year but she is without any injury this time, looking to better her 2025 winning time of 31 minutes 7 seconds. The 24-year-old Sarah is a double gold medallist in the 2018 Youth Olympics and a 2024 Paris Olympics finalist in 10,000m. For Kibet, running is a part of his daily life. He had to haul himself with a load of books on his backpack to commute between his home and the school, covering about 20 km every day, right from his primary school, which increased his endurance level to that of a world-class runner. Earlier this year, Kibet won the 10K in the Spanish town of Castellon with a fantastic time of 26:39, which is almost a minute faster than the Bengaluru World 10K event record for men, which also makes him a hot favourite to capture the men’s title this year. (PTI)
Olympic medallist Gurbax Singh Grewal no more
Chandigarh, April 25: Olympic hockey medallist Gurbax Singh Grewal has died following a heart attack in Zirakpur near here. He was 84. Grewal, who was part of the Indian team that secured a bronze medal at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, died on Friday. In a rare distinction, he represented India at the same Olympics alongside his brother Balbir Singh Grewal, marking one of the few instances of siblings featuring together in the national hockey side at the Games. (PTI)
