SARATH TO REPRESENT INDIA IN ASIA DREAM CUP

NEW DELHI: In a major boost to his international career, S. Sarath Kumar has been chosen to represent India in the Asia Dream Cup series with support from Honda Motorcycle and Scooters India.

The 21-year old will join the series mid-season from the Japanese round in Suzuka on August 29 and it follows his short stint on the Moto3 and the Spanish Championship earlier this year.

Sarath has had an upand-down career ever since he became the first Indian to compete in FIM World Championship when he competed in the 125cc class. His stint then came to an abrupt end after three races. He’s also been let down by lack of sponsors, especially after Mahindra Racing terminated his contract mid-season during the 2012 Italian Championship in the 125cc class.

The Asia Dream Cup (ADC) is a series backed by Honda to support young riders in the region. Thus, Sarath will be riding a Honda CBR 250 production motorcycle which has been specifically prepared to race in this series.

Each country from across Asia will have two riders in their team with the exception of India. Sarath will be joining compatriots Summit Lucas and A. Prabhu from India. DEEPIKA IN ROUND OF 32 KOLKATA: Deepika Kumari advanced into the round of 32 in the recurve individual section at the Archery World Cup Stage 4 in Wroclaw, Poland on Wednesday. In the recurve men individual, Tarundeep Rai, Atanu Das and rookie Priyank kept the hopes alive advancing into the second round. In the compound team events, the men qualified 10th while the women section, 11th. INDIA WIN TWO MORE NANJING: Weightlifter Venkat Rahul Ragala clinched a gold medal in the 77kg category while Shainki Nagar shot silver in the 10m air pistol as India swelled its medal tally to eight at the second Youth Asian Games, here on Wednesday. Indians have now won two gold, as many silver and four bronze to occupy ninth spot in the medal standings.

But there was some bad news, too. Adding to embarrassment for the country, another Indian weightlifter was disqualified due to overage, taking the total number of such athletes to 25.

Manpreet Kaur (women’s 63kg) became the fourth Indian weightlifter to be disqualified as she was found to be above 17 years of age.