AUSTRALIA PULL OUT OF JUNIOR HOCKEY WORLD CUP IN INDIA

SYDNEY: Australia on Friday pulled out of several upcoming FIH tournaments, including the junior men’s hockey World Cup slated to be held in India later this year, citing Covid-19 related government travel restrictions.

The junior men’s World Cup is scheduled to be held in November-December this year, although the venue is yet to be confirmed.

Hockey Australia also announced that the Tokyo Olympics silver medallists and their Trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand will also skip the third season of the Pro League, which starts next month.

Sharath to head BCCI’s junior selection panel NEW DELHI: Former Tamil Nadu left-hander Sridharan Sharath was named the chairman of the junior national selection committee just over a week before the commencement of the domestic season with the U-19 tournaments.

The four other committee members include former Punjab all-rounder Kishan Mohan (North Zone), Bengal seamer Ranadeb Bose (East Zone), Gujarat batsman Pathik Patel (West Zone) and MP medium fast bowler Harvinder Singh Sodhi (Central). The five-member committee will be entrusted with the duty of selecting the next batch of India U-19s.

Davis Cup: Prajnesh loses to lower-ranked Otto MUMBAI: India got off to a poor start against hosts Finland in their Davis Cup World Group I tie, with Prajnesh Gunneswaran losing to Otto Virtanen 6-3, 7-6(1) in their opening singles tie at the Espoo Metro Areena in Espoo on Friday.

Prajnesh, India’s highestranked singles player in the tie at world No. 165, could not deliver the goods on the indoor hard courts against the local hope ranked 419th in the world.

Parul bags second gold after steeplechase win WARANGAL: Parul Chaudhary of Railways won her second gold medal beating Maharashtra’s Komal Chandrakant Jagdale in the women’s 3000m steeplechase final in the 60th National Open Athletics Championships in Hanamkonda here on Friday.

Railways’ B Aishwarya claimed the women’s long jump crown with an opening leap of 6.52m that propelled her among the top jumpers in the country.