BWF asks Saina to put up a show

New Delhi: Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal has requested the Badminton World Federation (BWF) to conduct a video conference after the BWF insisted her to meet the media even if she misses the Super Series Finals, in Chinese Taipei, due to injury.

The BWF has accepted Saina’s plea for injury as the reason for skipping the season-ending championship but has still asked her to meet the media in person before the start of the tournament.

Tennis meet

Calcutta: Ishita Tibrewal ousted fourth seed Suranjeta Saikia of Assam 6-2, 6-3, the girls’ singles (under-16) of the Cossipore Club-BTA ranking tournament, on Monday. In the men’s singles, siblings Manoj Kumar Sewa and Vinod Kumar Sewa will face each other in the final.

Khosla wins

Groningen: Seeking his third and final International Master norm, Shiven Khosla defeated IM Van Oosterom Chiel of Holland to move to joint seventh spot after the end of the fifth round of Groningen International Open chess tournament, on Monday. Second-seeded Abhijeet Gupta was shocked by Arkadij Rotstein on a day that saw as many as six players emerging as joint leaders with four points apiece.

Sardara deal

New Delhi: Experienced full-back Sardara Singh, the only Indian player to find a place in the recently-announced International Hockey Federation’s All Star men’s team, will play in the Belgian Hockey League next year.

Drug case

Tokyo: A Japanese court has handed down a suspended sentence to Australian golfer Wayne Perske for possessing and using cocaine. Masaaki Ono, an official at the Chiba District Court, said the 36-year-old golfer received a year and six months in prison and suspension for three years.

New manager

Calcutta: Cricket Australia (CA) has appointed Rugby Football Union England Team operations manager Gavin Dovey, an expatriate Australian, to be the new team manager of the Australian cricket team from April 2011.

Dovey will replace long-serving Australian team manager Steve Bernard, who will be retiring from the role after the ODI World Cup early next year.

CAB meeting

Calcutta: The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) has fixed the prices for corporate boxes for the coming Indian Premier League (IPL) and future international assignments at the Eden. On Tuesday’s marketing committee meeting, corporate boxes for IPL matches were priced at Rs 70 lakh, while those for international ties will come for Rs 35 lakh.

Staff Reporter & Agencies