Honour for Vijai Singh

Suva (Fiji): Vijai Singh, who last month ended Tiger Woods? 264-week reign as golf?s No. 1 player, has been awarded a Companion of the Order of Fiji ? one of the Pacific nation?s highest honours.

Singh and the country?s chief justice, Daniel Fatiaki, were among nine who received civic honours conferred by the president, Ratu Josefa Iloilo. The names of the recipients were published on Tuesday in Fiji?s government gazette.

According to a citation published in the gazette, Singh was awarded the honour for ?eminent achievement and merit of the highest degree in service to Fiji or to humanity at large?.

Singh, a Fijian of Indian descent, reportedly did not receive the award in person. He retains membership of Fiji?s PGA, but lives in Florida and has rarely visited the country since he joined the USPGA Tour in 1993.

Snow interrupts rally

Shimla: Heavy snowfall along the racing course left the rallyists and officials of the sixth Raid de Himalaya motor rally in hardship, but they were reported to be safe and are camping in Jispa and Keylong. The rally, which was halted due to snowfall, would resume once the Rohtang Pass is opened.

?About 250 drivers and officials escorted by army convoy reached Jispa and Keylong late last night and they were safe,? Vijay Parmar, president, Himalayan Motor Sports Association said over the telephone from Keylong.Ralliysts and officials were trapped in tribal Lahaul and Spiti Valley.

National karting

Margao: Round three of the Fifth JK Tyre national karting championship will be held at Nuvem in South Goa on October 24th. The championship consists of seven rounds and the first two were held in Hyderabad and Bangalore. The Goa-leg will be followed by Rounds in Mumbai, Calcutta, Ahmedabad and culminate in Delhi on December 26.

?The drivers will compete on a special set of customised Formula India FI CK3 and FI K3 karts for the cadet and senior categories respectively,? Sanjay Sharma, head of Motorsports JK Tyre told reporters here on Monday. ?Contestants between the ages of eight and 16 years, will compete in four classes ? cadet, junior, all women and senior class.?

Pune strong contender

Pune: Pune has emerged as a strong contender to Kuala Lumpur in the race to become IAAF?s seventh high performance training centre which is proposed to be set up in Asia.

Following the IAAF?s decision to cancel its recognition to Bangkok, Pune and Kuala Lumpur put in their bids as replacements, Athletics Federation of India (AFI) joint secretary Prahlad Sawant said on Tuesday.

Egypt fire Tardelli

Cairo: Former Italian World Cup winner Marco Tardelli has been fired as coach of Egypt after their surprise defeat in Libya last week, the country?s football association announced on Monday. Tardelli, 50, had been in charge since May, specifically appointed to lead the country?s bid to qualify for the 2006 World Cup. He was in charge for seven matches, winning four.

Economic plane

Madrid: Arch-rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona are to club together to pay nearly $150,000 for a private jet to ensure their Brazilian players return early from World Cup duty to prepare for this weekend?s league matches.

Real said on Tuesday that the two clubs had agreed to halve the cost of laying on the flight so that Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos and Ronaldinho could make an immediate return to Spain following Brazil?s match against Colombia in Maceio.

Soccer, IFA Shield semis: East Bengal vs Mohun Bagan, from 8.30 am on STAR Sports
Soccer, South American World Cup qualifiers: Venezuela vs Brazil from 6 pm and Argentina vs Uruguay from 8.30 pm on TEN Sports