Joshna first Indian in quarters
Chennai: Joshna Chinappa became the first Indian to reach the quarter finals of the world junior squash championship in Cairo, beating Charlie de Rycle of Belgium 10-9, 10-9, 4-9, 9-5 to set up a clash with top seed Omneya Abdel Kawy of Egypt.
Vaidehi Reddy, however, went down to Hend Osama of Egypt 6-9, 9-7, 9-1, 6-9, 7-9, a press release from the Squash Rackets Federation of India said on Wednesday.
Paris: East Timor became the 211th member nation of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) at the biennial IAAF Congress on Wednesday.
With 211 nations, the IAAF now has nine more members than the International Olympic Committee. East Timor won independence from Indonesia in 2002. They don’t have any athletes at this year’s world athletic meet.
7-yr-old Viraat creates history
New Delhi: Seven-year-old golfing prodigy Viraat Badhwar has created history by becoming the youngest Indian sportsperson to be signed up by a professional sports management agency.
Viraat, who recently achieved the No. 2 position in the world junior golf championships held in the US, will be managed by Globosport, a company promoted by tennis star Mahesh Bhupathi.
Los Angeles: Nine-time Olympic gold medallist Carl Lewis pleaded innocent on Tuesday to a misdeameanor drunken driving charge stemming from a freeway crash in a Maserati in April.
The US athletics legend did not appear at the Metropolitan Branch Courthouse near downtown Los Angeles, and his lawyer, Mark Rafferty, entered the plea. The case is due back in court September 16 for a pre-trial hearing.
The charge stems from Lewis’ April 21 arrest by the California Highway Patrol, after he allegedly lost control of his car in the early hours of the morning on a freeway south of downtown Los Angeles. Lewis was not injured, but failed a series of field sobriety tests, officer Joseph Pace said at the time.
Hanoi: Drug addicts who publicly inject themselves in the Vietnamese capital will be rounded up and put into detention centres ahead of the Southeast Asian Games, officials said Wednesday.
Plans have been drawn up to intern all addicts in a bid to beautify the capital ahead of the December 5-13 regional games, said Dang Tran Hung from the social affairs department of the Hanoi People’s Committee.
“We cannot allow drug addicts to ruin the image of the city especially before and during the Southeast Asian Games,” he said. “We have the support of the Hanoi people in this matter.”
Discussions on how to conduct the sweep were underway with the justice ministry and city police, Hung added.
Leeds: Liam Botham, the son of legendary English cricketer Ian, is on the verge of making his Super League rugby debut.
Leeds Rhinos are facing an injury crisis and may turn to the 25-year-old for Friday’s derby clash with Castleford. Australian centre Chris McKenna has concussion, Gary Connolly has a neck injury and Chev Walker is serving a prison sentence that has left the Yorkshire club down to its barest resources.
Coach Daryl Powell told the Yorkshire Evening Post on Tuesday that he is considering giving a debut to Botham, who has played Rugby Union with Leeds Tykes and Newcastle, if Connolly fails to recover.
Sport on Screen
Cricket, Bangladesh in Pakistan: First Test, Day II, live from 10.30 am on TEN Sports
Cricket, SA in England: Fourth Test, Day I, live from 3.15 pm on ESPN
Golf, US Amateur Championship: Live from 11.30 pm on ESPN
