River Plate relegated

Buenos Aires: Legendary club River Plate was relegated to the Argentine second division for the first time in its 110-year history, sparking street battles between police and fans just outside its Monumental stadium. The drop came after a 1-1 draw with Belgrano in the second leg of a demotion playoff on Sunday. Mariano Pavone scored in the sixth minute for River, and Guillermo Farre equalised in the 62nd.

Manna ill

Calcutta: Olympian Sailen Manna was admitted to a city nursing home on Monday evening following illness.

Rafa to rest

Madrid: Rafael Nadal will miss Spain’s Davis Cup clash with the US next month to rest, complaining the tournament risked losing its prestige due to “inconsiderate” scheduling.       

Spain captain Albert Costa instead called up Marcel Granollers as a replacement on Monday, the world’s 48th ranked player joining David Ferrer, Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco in the side.

IOA demand

New Delhi: With the National Sports Federations being served notices of eviction for not paying rent for their office spaces, the IOA has written a letter to the sports ministry to immediately re-allot rooms at the SAI stadia where they were earlier housed.

Kothari fails

New Delhi: India’s Dhruv Sitwala ended runner-up in the South Australian Invitational billiards tournament in Adelaide after going down 1011-1653 to Peter Gilchrist of Singapore in the final.

Calcutta cueist, Sourav Kothari, had finished sixth in the league with one win and five losses.

Kapur falters

Munich: Shiv Kapur faltered in the final round as he carded a disappointing three-over 75 to slip from tied 10th and sign off tied 39th at the BMW International Open. Pablo Larrazabal beat Sergio Garcia at the fifth play-off hole to clinch his second European Tour title in Munich.        

Armaan slips

Spa-Francorchamps: A collision four laps from the finish cost Armaan Ebrahim points-scoring position in the sixth round of the Formula 2 Championship here on Sunday. Armaan was running ninth after carving his way from 14th when he collided with Thiemo Storz.

CAB awards

Calcutta: The annual CAB awards ceremony will be held on July 23, the association announced after its working committee meeting Monday. Manoj Tiwary is in the running to be chosen the best player of the year, while Ashok Dinda may get the best bowler’s prize. Chuni Goswami is likely to be adorned with the lifetime achievement award.

IPL-V

Calcutta: The fifth edition of the IPL will get underway on April 4 next year and conclude on May 27. The tournament will feature 74 matches, over a period of 54 days.

Staff reporter & Agencies