Bengal start today

Calcutta: Bengal begin their Santosh Trophy campaign when they take on Maharashtra in Cuttack, on Friday.

The defending champions are looking for a hat-trick of Santosh Trophy titles. “This is the best available team. Hope the boys would give their best and help us win the third title in a row. There are no injuries and the boys are looking in great shape,” Bengal’s coach Shabbir Ali said on Thursday.

“We are in a tough group. But we are hopeful of a good show,” he added.

Thumping win

Zaozhuang: The Indian men scored a thumping 4-0 victory over Yemen but their women counterparts lost 1-3 to China-2 in the first round of the Asian Chess Championship here on Thursday.

Hewitt wildcard

Paris: Former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt, currently ranked 178th, has been granted a wildcard to enter the French Open main draw along with seven other players, organisers said on Thursday.

Kothari ‘century’

Calcutta: Former India No. 2 Sourav Kothari registered first century break in the Maharaja Pratap Sinh Coronation Gymkhana National Invitation Billiards & Snooker Tournament at the Polo Club in Vadodara on Thursday.

Sourav scored 102 in the third frame and won the match 3-0 against Siddharth Parikh.

Trophy stolen

New York: The US Amateur Trophy, created in 1926 and retired in 1992, was one of two valuable items stolen from the United States Golf Association (USGA) museum on Tuesday night, the USGA said.

Irfan qualifies

Udhagamandalam: Race walker K T Irfan, a sepoy with the Madras Regimental Centre (MRC), has qualified for the London Olympics.

Maken gesture

New Delhi: Sports Minister Ajay Maken has sanctioned ex-gratia assistance of Rs 5 lakh to an archery player, Rani Dutta from National Welfare Fund for Sportspersons.

Lippi deal

Beijing: Italy’s World Cup-winning coach Marcello Lippi has been appointed head coach of the Chinese Super League champions Guangzhou Evergrande, the club said on Thursday.

Telegraph Cup

Calcutta: TCS Vintage defeated The Telegraph 'B' 5-0 in the CC&FC corporate five-a-side invitational football tournament for The Telegraph Cup 2012, at CCFC, on Thursday.

RESULTS

Alstom Projects 2 JSW Bengal Steel Ltd. 1; TCS Vintage 5 The Telegraph 'B' 0; Deloitte 2 Ericsson 1; ITC 'A' 4 Tata Steel 0; HDFC Ltd. 2 Blue Dart 1; Vodafone 3 TMIL 1; Intercraft Autocity 1 Inspectorate Griffith 1; Jayshree Tea 2 Magma B 0; IBM 3 J Thomas 0; Selvel 4 Wipro Ltd. 1; Pricewaterhouse C. 1 Genpact 1; McNally Bharat 4 Future Generalli Ind. 0.

       Staff reporter & agencies