Rupinder, Walmiki to be axed?

New Delhi: Forwards Rupinder Pal Singh and Yuvraj Walmiki are all set to be axed from the 16-member senior hockey squad that will take part in the London Olympics.

The squad is set to be formally announced here on Friday but the selection committee has already decided on 16-member squad.

Meanwhile, HI secretary-general Narinder Batra also announced that the association has already signed 30 players for the cash-rich HIL scheduled to be held in January, next year.

Gold rush

New Delhi: Indian weightlifters continued their gold rush in the Commonwealth Championships, bagging 13 more yellow metals among 19 medals on the second day of the competition at Apia, Samoa on Thursday.

Rugby triumph

Calcutta: The Indian rugby team edged past Guam 18-16 in the final of the Asian 5 Nations Division-III tournament, which concluded last Saturday. Not only the victory helped India to move up 12 places in the world rankings to 65th, it also boosted their chances of qualifying for the World Cup 2015.

Windfall

New Delhi: Services footballers, who won the national championship for the Santosh Trophy in Cuttack recently, would be given a cash award of Rs 1 lakh each by the ministry of defence.

Aditya wins

Sheffield: Aditya Mehta continued his winning run by defeating veteran Jimmy White of England 5-1 in Round 3 of the World Professional Snooker Circuit.

2-way lead

n Gurgaon: Manav Jaini and Kunal Bhasin were sharing the lead after round three of the PGTI Players Championship with identical totals of 10-under-206, here, on Thursday.

Joshi leads

Calcutta: Khalin Joshi shot a 7-under 63 to take the lead after day III in Western India Amateur Golf Championship at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club on Thursday.

No threat

Calcutta: Sri Lanka perceives no security threat in hosting the World Twenty20 , tournament director Upekha Nell, has said.

Doctrove quits

Calcutta: Umpire Billy Doctrove announced his retirement on Thursday. The West Indian was due to officiate in the ODI and Test series between Sri Lanka and Pakistan but withdrew due to personal reasons, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said in a statement. Doctrove will not be extending his ICC contract when it expires this month, the statement added.

Philander best

Calcutta: Vernon Philander completed a fairy tale debut year of Test cricket when he bagged three awards, including the ‘Cricketer of the Year’ honour, according to a Cricket South Africa (CSA) media release.

Sportsdesk & Agencies