singles

IOA to SEND SHARAN & co AT OWN COST

new delhi: The Indian Olympic Association has decided to send Chef de Mission Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and his deputy Rajkumar Sacheti at the Asian Games on its own expense after the Sports Ministry questioned the latter's presence in the contingent. The IOA had named Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Sharan as the CDM with his four deputies being Sacheti, Col Satyavrat Sheoran, Balbir Singh Kushwaha and Dev Kumar Singh. It is learnt that the Sports Ministry had expressed its unhappiness at Boxing Federation of India (BFI) Executive Director Sacheti's inclusion as one of the four deputy Chefs de Mission as the Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) had recommended registration of a disproportionate assets case against him in 2013 in the wake of the 2010 CWG corruption scandal.

‘ARJUNA WILL help MOTORSPORTS’

new delhi: A national award will provide a much-needed fillip to Indian motorsports, believes three-time Asia Pacific Rally Champion (APRC) Gaurav Gill, who is hoping to be third time lucky after being nominated for the Arjuna award again. "I have been nominated again. I just want to say that ministry should not see it in a way that motorsport is not popular, rather they should try to make the sport popular because there are hundreds of cricketers but there are not many players in motorsports," he said. "If you recognise someone from motorsports at the national level then the whole country will watch. If today, you address me as an Arjuna awardee, naturally the level goes up. We shouldn't wait for hundreds to come and then award one with Arjuna but rather we should think of creating hundreds in motorsports."

MANGAONKAR claims title pre-asiad

mumbai: Top seed Mahesh Mangaonkar tuned up for tougher battles ahead in the Asian Games by overcoming a fighting Abhishek Pradhan to lift the title in the 43rd Maharashtra State Men's Squash tournament on Friday. Mangaonkar, a member of the Indian Games squad, got the better of third seed Pradhan in the all-Mumbai final 11-8, 12-10, 12-10 to pocket the champion's purse of Rs 1.3 lakh. Pradhan received Rs 75,000 for his runner-up finish in the tournament, organised under the aegis of the SRFI and the SRAM and sponsored by JSW and Raheja Vivarea at the Bombay Gymkhana courts here.

CFC TO HOLD PRE SEASON IN MALAYSIA

chennai: Reigning Indian Super League champions Chennaiyin FC will have a four-week pre-season camp in Malaysia from August 13. The two-time ISL winners will depart from Chennai in the early hours of Monday morning, a press release said here. The CFC team will be based in Malaysia's capital city Kuala Lumpur. They will be using the training facility of Sime Darby Football Club. CFC's Indian contingent convened in Chennai yesterday to undergo their pre-season medical assessments prior to leaving for Malaysia, along with head coach John Gregory, who arrived in the city in the early hours of Thursday morning. The foreign players and rest of the foreign coaching staff will be directly reporting to Malaysia.

POSSIBLE FINAL HEARING FOR BENZEMA

paris: The Paris Appeal Court will re-examine the case against Real Madrid star Karim Benzema for his alleged role in the blackmail of fellow international Mathieu Valbuena on October 4 according to sources. The hearing has been awaited since July 2017 when France's highest court, the Court of Cassation, annulled a Versailles Court of Appeal decision to send Benzema to trial for allegedly attempting to blackmail Valbuena over a sex tape and ordered the Paris court to review the original ruling. The affair began in June 2015 when Valbuena received a call from a blackmailer who threatened to release an intimate video. Valbuena contacted the police who assigned an undercover officer to the case.