India bag four gold

Bangkok: Indian athletes produced an impressive performance, bagging four gold, one silver and four bronze in the first leg of the Asian Grand Prix here on Tuesday. MR Poovama won the women’s 400m in 52.94 while Sajeesh Joseph came first in men’s 800m in 1:47.78. The men’s 4x400m relay team won gold in 3:08.00 while their women counterparts also bagged the yellow metal in 3:38.76.

Phelps decision

London: The man who won eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics has said that he is likely to quit following London 2012. US swimmer Michael Phelps, who turns 27 next month and has 16 Olympic medals to his name in all, has hinted that he will only allow himself one more tilt at Games glory and then retire.

Negi, Gupta win

Ho Chi Minh City: GMs Parimarjan Negi and Abhijeet Gupta were back in contention with victories over Nguyen Anh Dung of Vietnam and Irwanto Sadikin of Indonesia, respectively, in the third round of the Asian Continental Chess championship here.

Valencia coach

Madrid: Valencia have appointed Argentine former player Mauricio Pellegrino to replace Unai Emery as their coach from next season, the Spanish club said on Monday. “Mauricio Pellegrino is the new coach of Valencia for the next two seasons,” Valencia said.

Bagan signing

Calcutta: Mohun Bagan have roped in Pailan Arrows’ CS Sabeeth on Tuesday. The prolific striker had played for Arrows from 2011 after starting his career with Viva Kerala in 2010.

Saina stamina

Hyderabad: Olympic-bound Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal on Tuesday took time out from her hectic training schedule to support her home team Deccan Chargers in the Indian Premier League. Saina said she is preparing for the London Olympics in earnest. “The Olympics is still three months to go and my training is going on fine. I want to build more stamina and speed and hope to do better than I did last time around,” Saina said.

Narsingh sure

New Delhi: With experienced Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt in the ranks, Indian grapplers stand a good chance of finishing on the podium in the upcoming Olympics, said Narsingh Pancham Yadav who became the fourth wrestler from the country to qualify for the London Games.

Felicitation

Calcutta: The state sports ministry will felicitate Sachin Tendulkar ahead of Mumbai Indians' IPL match against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens on May 12. State sports minister Madan Mitra said he had got in touch with Sachin Tendulkar who readily accepted the request and wrote in a mail that he was looking forward to the occasion.