Simon Gauzy, Chih Yuan top draws for UTT 2
mumbai: France's top player Simon Gauzy, the World No 8, Chinese Taipei's Chih Yuan Chuang and ITTF Europe's Top 16 women's winner Bernadette Szocs are the top draws in a for the second edition of CEAT Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) league starting on June 14. The Indian pool, comprising a total of the 28 best players in the country, will be led by World No 49 Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, winner of the ITTF Challenger Spanish Open, and 8-time national champion Sharath Kamal, the organisers of the league, 11Sports, announced on Thursday. The UTT comprises six franchisees with eight players - four men and four women, an equal mix of overseas and Indian players, apart from a foreign and an Indian coach, in each team.
jahan sends complaint's copy to coa chief
kolkata: India pacer Mohammed Shami's wife Hasin Jahan has sent the documents related to her complaints against her husband to the BCCI's Committee of Administrators (CoA) chairman Vinod Rai for a probe into her allegations of corruption, her lawyer said on Thursday. "We have sent the details of the complaint that was lodged at Lalbazar (Kolkata Police headquarters) and the copy of the FIR to Vinod Rai," Jahan's lawyer Zakir Hussain said. Jahan has alleged that Shami had taken money from a Pakistani woman named Alishba on the insistence of an England-based businessman, Mohammad Bhai. Jahan had filed a police complaint against the pacer, alleging infidelity and domestic violence, which had resulted in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) withholding Shami's central contract.
Indian football team move to 99 in rankings
new delhi: The Indian football team has re-entered the top-100 of the FIFA world rankings and is now placed at 99th at the latest chart released on Thursday. The team, which did not play any international match in this ranking period, jumped three places to enter the top-100 for the first time this year. It now has 339 points to its kitty to be at joint 99th spot with Libya. Last year, the Indian team broke into the top-100 three times, rising as high as 96th in July, the second best ever after the 94th place attained in February 1996. Among Asian countries, the Indian team is now at 13th spot. World champions Germany remain on the top of the overall chart, followed by Brazil, Portugal, Argentina, Belgium, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, France and Chile.
India to play Pakistan in Champions Trophy opener
new delhi : Arch-rivals India and Pakistan will lock horns in a high-profile opening match of the men's Champions Trophy hockey tournament in Breda, Netherlands on June 23. As per the schedule announced by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) on Thursday, besides the India-Pakistan tie, there will be two more games on the first day of the event to be held from June 23 to July 1. After the Pakistan tie, India will play Argentina on June 24 followed by games against Australia on June 27 and Belgium on June 28.
Sri Lanka, Bangladesh clash in virtual semifinal
colombo: A place in the final at stake, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh would expect their batsmen to fire as they lock horns in a virtual semi-final of the Nidahas Twenty20 tri-series, here on Friday. While Bangladesh batting line-up has been bolstered by return of their premier all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, hosts Sri Lanka still have to do the job without their regular skipper Dinesh Chandimal, who is serving a two-match suspension. Thisara Perera will continue as skipper in Chandimal's absence. Shakib had missed the previous matches of the series due to a finger injury. The winner will play India in the title-clash on Sunday. Both teams have two points with a victory each.