Athletics coach Snesarev found dead

NEW DELHI: Middle and longdistance coach Nikolai Snesarev of Belarus, who was in India to prepare steeplechaser Avinash Sable for the Tokyo Olympics, was found dead in his hostel room at the National Institute of Sports, Patiala. Athletics Federation of India in a statement said the 72-year-old “died with his boots on, having overseen his wards’ training this morning.”

“We are stunned by the news. He returned to India only a few days ago, having agreed to train steeplechaser Avinash Sable for the Olympic Games in Tokyo,” said AFI President Adille Sumariwalla. “We will cherish his long association with Indian athletics and will miss him.”

An AFI official said Snesarev came to India on February 25. He was based in Bengaluru and came to Patiala on March 2 as Sable was competing in Indian Grand Prix 3 on Friday. But when Snesarev did not turn up at the ground even during Sable’s event, officials went to his room to check on him and found it bolted from inside.

“He was supposed to come for Avinash’s event in the evening. When he did not come to the ground, enquiries were made. A coach was then sent to his room. He knocked for a long time but there was no response. The door was broken and he was on his bed as if he was sleeping with blankets on. The doctors at NIS Patiala immediately checked and said he had passed away. Police were informed and his body has been sent for post mortem,” the official said.

Sindhu advances to Swiss Open semi-finals

BASEL: PV Sindhu advanced to the semi-finals of the Swiss Open Super 300 tournament with a 21-16, 23-21 win over Thai Busanan Ongbamrungphan. However, it was a bad day for other Indians as B Sai Praneeth, Ajay Jayaram, mixed doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa all crashed out here on Friday.

World champion Sindhu took a minute less than an hour to see off a fighting Busanan, to set up a last-four clash with Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt.

1st LNCC Omni Global Trophy Invitation Under-19 brief scores: Payyade SC 130 in 36.2 ov (A Bhosale 4/25) lost to

134/4in 32.4 ov (S Jadhav 57) by 6 wickets,

201/9 in 45 ov (S Gode 73; S Menon 3/27) beat

139 in 41.5 ov by 62 runs,

282/5 in 45 ov (H Mogaveera 104) lost to

283/3 in 43 ov (M Bhatt 86*, P Pawar 79*) by 5 wickets