Teenage shuttler Lakshya Sen lifts Bulgarian Open
Nehra is my idol because at 37 he’s doing better than when he started off. He’s like fine wine, getting better with age. I think I can be same.
Jiju (Janardhan) said I would either keep an arm band or towel or vermilion. I used to do all that because I love Allan Donald.
Why would someone fix for ~10 lakh? If you’re accusing me, say ~10 crore. Why would I jeopardise my career, my life for ~10 lakh. COMEBACK TRAIL Former India pacer, who was cleared of spotfixing charges by court, says he will put the past behind him and focus on cricket SREESANTH, AJIT CHANDILA AND ANKEET CHAVAN, WHO PLAYED FOR RR IN IPL 2013, WERE ARRESTED BY DELHI POLICE ON CHARGES OF FIXING.
Sixteen-year-old Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen defeated second seed Zvonimir Durkinjak of Croatia to clinch the Bulgarian Open men’s singles title here on Thursday. The junior World No.1 Lakshya edged past the Croatian player 18-21, 21-12, 21-17 in a match which lasted around one hour. Earlier, Lakshya outplayed Dinuka Karunaratna of Sri Lanka 21-19, 21-14 in the semis.
The Indian men’s hockey team registered a 4-3 win against Austria in their final encounter of the Europe Tour on Wednesday. India ended the tour with three wins and two losses. Ramandeep Singh (25’, 32’) and Chinglensana (37’, 60’) saw India through against Austria.
After two successive wins against World No.4 the Netherlands, the Indians made a steady start against Austria. While they kept most of the ball possession, penetrating the striking circle was hard to come by. In fact, Austria took the lead through Oliver Binder’s goal in the 14th minute to end the quarter 1-0.
National sprint champion Dutee Chand will compete in the World University Games starting Saturday at Chinese Taipei. According to her coach N Ramesh, Dutee will participate in 100m dash. She is among 111member Indian contingent participating in the biennial multidiscipline event.
Winner of bronze in the Asian championships, Dutee had crashed out of the first round of women’s 100m in the just-concluded World Athletics Championships at London.
Golfer Rahil Gangjee suffered a rare two-shot penalty for coming late for his tee time before recovering to tied eighth on the opening day of the Fiji International Thursday. Gangjee made up for the forgettable start with a solid showing that included a closing eagle en route to an opening three-under 69. He was the best among the three Indians in the field this week at the $1.14m event. Gangjee was tied eighth and three shots behind the leader Daniel Pearce (66) of New Zealand. S Chikkarangappa (74) was tied-67th.
As the Indian football team prepares for the tri-nation series in Mumbai, starting August 19, India winger Jackichand Singh said the tournament was important for the AFC Asian Cup qualifier against Macau on September 5. “We are preparing for the qualifier against Macau and a good performance here will put us in a good position,” said Jackichand on Thursday.
India face Mauritius in the opening fixture at Andheri Sports Complex on the back of 13 wins in their last 15 matches. “We obviously feel slight pressure. The team is getting better and winning matches, and has helped us gain confidence. We are not overconfident and will take it one match at a time.”
S Sreesanth, who was accused of spot-fixing, admitted he was hurt by the BCCI’s decision to appeal against the Kerala High Court’s verdict to set aside the life ban imposed on him by the Board in 2013, stating he simply wanted to play cricket and put the past behind him.
Citing the example of fast bowler Ashish Nehra, who still represents the country in the shortest format of the game, Sreesanth said: “Nehra is my idol because at 37 he’s doing better than when he started off. He’s like fine wine, getting better with age. I think I can be the same. I am willing to put everything behind and focus on my cricket.
“I wish to follow my dreams and make my family proud. I do not want to keep reliving this. I need to make new memories and this (cricket) will help me do that. I have seen too much in life. I want to be happy. Is that too much to ask?” he added in an interview to Wisden India.
Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan, who played for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2013, were arrested by Delhi Police on charges of alleged spot-fixing. Sreesanth was acquitted two years later by a Delhi court but the BCCI did not lift the ban, stating it had enough proof that the bowler wasn’t innocent.
A few days back, the Kerala High Court ruled that Sreesanth’s omission was “a denial of natural justice” and set aside the life ban.
Sreesanth, who pleaded innocence from the start, has stuck to his stand that he was being framed. “They said Jiju (Janardhan) apparently said I would either keep an arm band or towel or vermilion or something like that. I used to do all that because I love Allan Donald,” he said. It was alleged that Janardhan was the person who had dealt with other bookies on Sreesanth’s behalf.
“I have done that before too. I would even wear plenty of zinc oxide on my face, like Donald.
“Does that mean those matches were fixed too? Is it a crime to be superstitious? I believed that wearing those things would help me when I was going through a bad phase in my bowling.
In fact, in the first over I asked Kumar Dharmasena (the umpire) if it was okay if I kept a towel. Surely, the stump microphones picked that up. I did that only because it made me feel like Donald.
“Why would someone fix for ~10 lakh? If you’re accusing me, say ~10 crore or something. Why would I jeopardise my career, my life for ~10 lakh?”
The BCCI had also denied Sreesanth a no-objection certificate earlier this year when he wanted to represent Glenrothes Cricket Club in the Scottish League. India’s Ramkumar Ramanathan bowed out of the Cincinnati Masters on Wednesday after losing a tight Round of 32 clash to USA’s Jared Donaldson. Sania Mirza and her Chinese partner Peng Shuai showcased a splendid performance as they booked their place in the quarter-finals of 2017 Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati following a straightset victory in the women’s doubles clash. Leander Paes and his men’s doubles partner Alexander Zverev Jr. suffered a major blow as he crashed out of the U.S. Open warm-up tournament.