Suarez banned

Barcelona: Barcelona striker Luis Suarez was banned for two Copa del Rey matches, on Friday, after being cited in the referee’s report for calling Espanyol players “a waste of space” at the end of a heated Catalan Derby. Barcelona said they would appeal the ban, arguing that it was not Suarez who uttered those words. 

Shooting squad

New Delhi: Apurvi Chandela, the latest sensation in Indian women’s shooting, will be seen in action in the South Asian Games in Guwahati next month. The NRAI named seven shooters for the Guwahati Games. The squad includes Abhinav Bindra, Gagan Narang and Jitu Rai.

Golf meet

New Delhi: The Hero Indian Open will return to the prestigious and historic Delhi Golf Club for the 2016 edition. The tournament, which was first held in 1964, will be played from March 17-20. 

Pro-Am snooker

Calcutta: Space Group team, consisting of Manan Chandra and Piyush Bhagat, defeated Watertite's Yasin Merchant and Rajesh Tulsian 3-1 to win the 4th Kolkata National Invitation Pro-Am Snooker Championship, at the Bengal Rowing Club, on Friday. 

Tie shifted

Karachi: Pakistan will host its Asia Oceania Group I Davis Cup tennis tie in Sri Lanka after opponents China refused to visit the country over security fears, officials said on Friday. 

Demise

London: American Tyler Alexander, who helped Bruce McLaren find the McLaren Formula One team in the 1960s and remained a part of it for more than 40 years, died on Thursday at the age of 75.

Case filed

New Delhi: The Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA), on Friday, filed a defamation case against the Delhi chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, and former cricketer Kirti Azad, for bringing disrepute to the local association with continuous malicious campaign. 

“We filed a defamation case against the CM and Kirti Azad to the tune of Rs. 2.5 crore in the Delhi High Court,” said treasurer, Ravinder Manchanda. 

Mithali to lead

Calcutta: Mithali Raj will lead the India women’s cricket team for a limited-overs tour of Australia where they play three ODIs and as many T20Is from January 26 to February 7. Jhulan Goswami will be Mithali’s deputy.

THE SQUADS

ODIs: Mithali Raj (captain), Jhulan Goswami, Smriti Mandhana, MD Thirushkamini, Harmanpreet Kaur, Veda Krishnamurthy, Shikha Pandey, Niranjana Nagarajan, Sushma Verma, Kalpana R, Ekta Bisht, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Raut, Poonam Yadav, Sneh Rana

T20Is: Mithali Raj (captain), Jhulan Goswami, Smriti Mandhana, MD Thirushkamini, Harmanpreet Kaur, Veda Krishnamurthy, Shikha Pandey, Niranjana Nagarajan, Sushma Verma, Ekta Bisht, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, VR Vanitha, Anuja Patil, Deepti Sharma

Sportsdesk & Agencies