Mary Kom beginsin style

Bridgetown: Four-time defending champion M.C.Mary Kom (48kg) began her campaign in style, out-punching Sweden’s Lungo Vesenne Natalie 10-1 in the opening round of the sixth World Women’s Boxing Championships here. Her next opponent in the pre-quarter finals Saturday would be Jenny Smith of Australia.

Vettel quickest

Monza: Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel set a quickest lap of 1 minute, 22.839 seconds around the Monza circuit to deny Alonso the day’s best time by less than one-tenth of a second on Friday.

3-way lead

New Delhi: Overnight leaders Sahaj Grover and Girish Koushik settled for draw while Maharashtra’s Shardul Gagare outplayed Antonio Viani in 62 moves to join the duo at the top after ninth round of National Sub-junior Chess Championship here Friday.

Blitz chess

Vijaywada: World No.2 Grandmaster Koneru Humpy will be the only player to represent India in the Fide Women’s world blitz chess championship finals to be held in Moscow, Russia on September 17 and 18.

Chiragh best

Gurgaon: Chiragh Kumar of Delhi won his maiden professional title carding a tenacious 71 in the final round of the PGTI Players Championship here Friday. He totalled 10-under 278 to win the title.

Kapur tied 2nd

Hilversum: Shiv Kapur turned in a sparkling six-under 64 to grab a share of the second spot but Jyoti Randhawa (74) seemed in danger of missing the cut after the opening round of the KLM Open golf tournament here.

Final berth

Rosario: Reigning champions, The Netherlands, made it to the final of the women’s field hockey World Cup, defeating England 4-3 in a penalty shootout, Thursday after their semi-final was locked at 1-1 following extra time.

Serie A strike

Milan: Serie A players plan to strike during matches on Sept. 25 and 26 because of a dispute over contracts, the Italian footballers’ association said on Friday. The players of Serie A, will not go on the field for the fifth round of matches on the two days, in protest against requests to impose new contractual rules.

Injuries

London: Tottenham Hotspur suffered a major blow on Friday after striker Jermain Defoe’s recovery from an ankle injury was extended from six weeks to three months following surgery. Manchester United too would miss midfielder Michael Carrick for three weeks with an Achilles problem.

Iraq bound

Calcutta: Indian coach Lokesh Chand has been roped in by the Iraqi Archery Federation to look after their senior side.