Gill wins Rally of Hokkaido, takes lead
NEW DELHI: Gaurav Gill of Team MRF Skoda won the Rally of Hokkaido in Japan on Sunday to take the lead in the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship title standings ahead of the final round in India, late November. Gill won with a time of 1:53.21.8 sec. Mpart’s Blomberg (co-driver Lars Andersson) finished second, while Fuyuhiko Takahashi (co-driver Mitsuo Nakamura) in a Subaru Impreza, finished third. Kathmandu on Monday for the AFC U-16 qualifiers. India have been drawn with Nepal, Iraq and Palestine in Group D. Head coach Bibiano Fernandes said despite the “tough draw”, the boys can make the cut if “we play to our potential”. India take on Palestine in their first match on Sept 20.
DIYA WINS BRONZE
MUMBAI: Diya Chitale completed her campaign in the Croatia Junior and Cadet Open table tennis tournament on a triumphant note, claiming a second bronze in cadet girls’ singles. The Mumbai girl upset No 2 seed Satsuki Odo of Japan 11-7, 3-11, 11-8, 12-10 in the quarter-finals to assure herself of bronze. She took on No 3 seed Elizabet Abraamian of Russia in the semi-final, and after leading 11-6, 5-11, 11-7 and sitting pretty in the fourth game till the ninth point, she fumbled. She lost that
game 9-11 and the decider 5-11.
PURNIMA WINS GOLD
NEW DELHI: Indian athletes won four medals, one of them gold, in the fifth Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games at Ashgabat, Turkmenistan on Monday. Purnima Hembram set the ball rolling by winning gold in the women’s pentathlon event.
She scored 4062 points. Distance runner Sanjivani Jadhav claimed silver (9:26 secs) in women’s 3,000m, while Tejinder Singh Toor won the second silver in men’s shotput with a throw of 19.26m. Neena Varakil won bronze in women’s long jump event (6.04m).