UP’s Manu-Sumeeth retain Lagos International title
NEWDELHI: Defending champions Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy retained the men’s doubles title at USD 25,000 Lagos International badminton tournament in Nigeria.
Senior national champions Manu, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, and Sumeeth, seeded top, defeated Vaibhav and Prakash Raj 21-12, 21-12 in the finals to lay claim to the title for the second time.
In a tournament dominated by Indians, women doubles and mixed doubles finals also turned out to be a fight among compatriots.
While Kuhoo Garg and Ria Mukherjee combined to see off Krishma Wadekar and V Harika 21-10, 21-18 in women’s doubles, Manu and Manisha paired up to secure the mixed doubles gold by defeating Kuhoo and Rohan Kapoor 21-17, 22-20 in another summit clash.
In women’s singles, Sree Krishina Priya had to settle for a silver after she suffered a heartbreaking 22-20, 16-21, 25-27 loss to Russia’s Ksenia Polikaprova in a thrilling final.
Misha Zilberman of Israel, meanwhile, claimed the men’s singles title after defeating Ramdam Misburn of Maylasia in a hard-fought game.
CESAR IS HEAD COACH
JAMSHEDPUR: Cesar Ferrando has been appointed as the new head coach of Jamshedpur Football Club. Cesar had an extremely successful stint in his last assignment with Spanish Club, La Nucia. He has managed teams such as Atletico de Madrid, Valencia B, Elche, Albacete (La Liga & Segunda Division Clubs). Cesar also possesses experience in coaching an Asian team with his stint in Malaysia where he managed Johur Darul Takzim F.C. in 2013-14.
During his player career, Cesar plied his trade as a midfielder and represented top Spanish clubs such as Valencia, Salamanca, Sabadell, Alzira (La Liga & Segunda Division Clubs).
CONSECUTIVE WIN
Bengaluru There could not have been better preparations for the Indian men’s hockey team ahead of the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta than playing against World No 9 New Zealand in a threematch Series here at the Sports Authority of India in Bengaluru.
As the home team wrapped up the much needed practice matches before Asian Games, with their third consecutive victory, chief coach Harendra Singh expressed content with his team’s performance.
“Playing high intensity matches against one of the Top 10 Teams in the World ahead of a crucial event like the Asian Games is beneficial for us. During these three matches, we tried out different combinations and variations in penalty corners and we are better prepared for the upcoming tournament,” stated Harendra Singh after the match.
In Sunday’s match, Rupinder Pal Singh (8’), Surender Kumar (15’), Mandeep Singh (44’) and Akashdeep Singh (60’) scored for India while the team’s defence ensured a clean sheet denying the visitors any scoring opportunities.
In the first quarter, India took a 1-0 lead after Rupinder scored off the team’s second penalty corner. He fired low towards the right corner of the post, taking his personal goal count to four goals in the series against New Zealand.
Brilliant stick work by Surender Kumar and a clever assist by Rupinder from the top of the striking circle earned India their second goal of the match in the 15th minute.