National Games postponed again

New Delhi: The Indian Olympic Association Saturday decided to postpone the 34th National Games, scheduled to be held in Jharkhand from February 15-28, until June due to a delay in the completion of the infrastructure.

The IOA reviewed the preparations for the Games to be held in Ranchi, Jamshedpur and Dhanbad and concluded that the state was still not ready. “Considering the status of the preparations, it has been decided to postpone the National Games and reschedule the same in the month of June 2009,” the IOA said in a statement. The Games were originally planned for 2007 but kept getting delayed.

Surya wins

New Delhi: National champion Surya Sekhar Ganguly beat overnight leader Kazakh Grandmaster Petr Kostenko in the eighth round of the seventh Parsvnath International Open Chess Tournament here Saturday. With only two rounds remaining in the biggest open event of the country, Ganguly, Kostenko and Russian Grandmaster Mikhail Ulibin now share the lead on seven points each.

Indians fail

Seoul: The Indian mixed doubles pair of V. Diju and Jwala Gutta’s giant killing spree in the Yonex Korea Super Series badminton ended in the semi-finals as they lost 19-21, 20-22 to the Thai duo of Songphon Anugritayawon and Kunchala Voravichitchaikul.

Asian Tour

Rayong (Thailand): Three Indians — Amandeep Johl, C. Muniyappa and Anirban Lahiri — earned full playing rights on the Asian Tour this season after finishing inside the top-40 of the Qualifying School’s final stage here Saturday.

Himmat Rai, Rahil Gangjee and Firoz Ali failed to make the top-40.

Atwal slips

Honolulu: A poor front-nine marred Arjun Atwal’s card as he turned in a one-over 71 to slip 26 rungs to tied 50th after the second round of the $5.4 million Sony Open here.

Meanwhile, Daniel Chopra failed to make the cut.

Table tennis

Surat: Maharashtra and North and West Bengal women’s teams scored identical 3-0 victories in the junior event on the opening day of the 70th Junior and Youth National Table Tennis Championship here Saturday.

Bonus reward

Mumbai: The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) has decided to give a cash award of Rs 60 lakh to its victorious team for winning their 38th Ranji title.

IPL trading

Mumbai: The first player trading in the Indian Premier League (IPL) took place Saturday when Mumbai Indians swapped Ashish Nehra for Shikhar Dhawan of Delhi Daredevils.

Hayden aim

Melbourne: Post-retirement, former Australian cricketer Matthew Hayden intends to work with the government on an aboriginal cricket programme.