Messi bids farewell to Neymar
FC Barcelona star forward Lionel Messi on Wednesday bid farewell to teammate and "friend" Neymar after the Catalan giants confirmed that the Brazil star is set to leave. "It was an enormous pleasure to have shared these years with you Neymar, friend. I wish you a lot of luck in the next stage of your life. See you," Messi wrote on Instagram. Neymar came to Barca's training ground on Wednesday morning to confirm he is leaving for French club Paris Saint-Germain F.C. Messi wrote "TKM," which means "te quiero mucho" or "love you a lot." Neymar is set to join French heavyweights Paris-Saint Germain (PSG) in a world record transfer fee of £198 million ($261.86 million). The deal would see the forward pocket around $35.57 million every year.
Harmanpreet Kaur to be appointed as DSP
Cricketer Harmanpreet Kaur, whose steller innings against Australia steered India into the ICC Women's World Cup final, may soon don khaki as the Punjab government has initiated the process of inducting her as a DSP in the state police. Kaur on Wednesday met Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, who directed the state Director General of Police (DGP) Suresh Arora to complete the necessary formalities for her appointment as a Deputy Superintenant of Police (DSP), an official spokesperson said. Singh said he wanted to keep the talented young woman, currently working in the Railways, in Punjab. He also assured Kaur that he would take up the issue of the waiver of her employment bond with the Ministry of Railways so that she can join Punjab Police at the earliest, the spokesperson added. DGP Arora said that after the cricketer's induction into the force, they would set up a cricket team in the police department.
Federer confirms Montreal return
Swiss tennis maestro Roger Federer, who recently clinched his 19th Grand Slam title at the Wimbledon, has confirmed that he is all set to make a return to Montreal with the next week's ATP event. The world number three, who has not been to Montreal since 2011, will play at the Rogers Cup-which will also mark the 35-year-old's first tune-up event for the US Open. Ecstatic to make a return in Montreal, Federer said that 2017 season has been exciting so far and, therefore, he is looking forward to be back on the court.
Anand to face Nakamura in Sinquefield opener
Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand will hope for a turnaround in fortunes when he takes on Hikaru Nakamura of United States in the first round of the Sinquefield Cup, a part of the Grand Chess tour, at St Louis in the US. Tied on the eighth spot with just three points with a lone outing thus far in the Grand Chess tour, Anand will have to come out with an impressive performance in the super tournament that also has Magnus Carlsen of Norway starting as the top seed. The Indian will get five whites and four black games in the 10-player round-robin event being played under classical time control for a total prize pool of USD 300000. For Anand, this tournament and the St Louis rapid and blitz that starts immediately after, will serve as the perfect preparation ground before the World Cup of Chess that begins in the first week of September.
Financial aid to Chitra; job for Vineeth
Athlete P.U. Chitra, whose exclusion from the Indian squad for the upcoming World Athletics Championships triggered a controversy, would get a monthly scholarship of Rs 10,000 besides allowance for training, Kerala Government said on Wednesday. A state cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan here also decided to employ in its services Indian footballer C.K. Vineeth, who lost his central government job recently due to lack of attendance. Chitra, hailing from a financially backward family in Mundoor in Palakkad, would also be given a daily allowance of Rs 500 to meet her training and food expenses in addition to the scholarship, the statement said. The Kerala athlete, who has won several national and international gold medals, was excluded by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) from the team for the London event to be held this month. The sports community in the state and the state government had backed Chitra over the issue.
Kashyap, Prannoy advance in New Zealand Open
Indian shuttlers Parupalli Kashyap and H.S. Prannoy defeated their opponents to advance at the New Zealand Open badminton here on Wednesday. Kashyap, 15th seed, thrashed local shuttler Oscar Guo 21-9, 21-8 in just 25 minutes of the match while fourth seed Prannoy outplayed Firman Abdul Kholik of Indonesia 23-21, 21-18 in 53 minutes. In the third round, Kashyap will take on his compatriot Saurabh Verma, who beat Henrikho Kho Wibowo of Indonesia 21-16, 21-16. Prannoy is set to face 10th seed Wei Nan of Hong Kong.
Three Indian boxers in Asian Junior Championships quarters
Three Indian boxers on Wednesday advanced to the quarterfinals of the Asian Junior Championships in Puerto Princesa, Philippines. Selay Roy (46kg), Bhavesh Kattimani (52kg) and Aman Sherawat (70kg) entered the last-eight stage after winning their respective opening bouts. While Roy defeated Japan's Tagawa Ruka in a unanimous verdict, Kattimani got the better of Saudi Arabia's Majrashi Ziyad Ali. Sherawat, on the other hand, eased past UAE's Saif Alkindi in his opening bout to advance. However, Swapnil Anil (50kg) lost to Kazakhstan's Talgat Syrymbetov.
Joshna-Dipika in quarters of World Doubles C'ship
The formidable Indian pair of Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal advanced to the the women's doubles quarterfinals at the WSF World Doubles Squash Championship in Manchester on Wednesday. Having started off on Tuesday, the number two seeds and 2014 Commonwealth Games gold medallist went on to top the three-team Group B by beating Tesni Evans and Deon Saffery of Wales quite comfortably. In the quarterfinal on Thursday, Joshna and Dipika are scheduled to take on the Group A runner up Samantha Cornett and Nikole Todd of Canada. The Indian mixed pairs also put up a confident show. Number two seeds Saurav Ghosal and Dipika began their Group B league with a win over Malaysian pair of Mohammed Syafiq Kamal and Rachel Arnold in straight games.
Gulia wins bronze, Punia enters bronze-medal play-offs
India began their campaign in the Junior World Wrestling championships on a positive note with Veer Dev Gulia bagging a bronze medal while Deepak Punia entering the bronze medal play-off round in Tampere, Finland. In the men's 74kg freestyle category, Gulia finished third after getting the better of Yamasaki Yajuro of Japan 8-5 in the bronze medal play-off bout on the opening day of the competition last night. Gulia had made it to the bronze medal play-offs despite losing in the quarterfinals as his last-eight stage opponent, Isa Shapiev of Uzbekistan, reached the gold medal round of 74kg. Gulia had started well by beating Johann Christoph Steinforth of Germany 6-2 in the 1/8 stage, but lost in the quarterfinals 0-11 to the Uzbek wrestler. But, with Shapiev entering the gold medal round, Gulia got another chance and he took full advantage of it, defeating Ty Stuart Bridgwater of Canada 5-0 in his repechage bout.
