Wenger signs deal with Wenger
Arsene Wenger has signed a new two-year deal with Arsenal that will keep him at the Emirates Stadium until 2019, the Premier League club announced on Wednesday. The 67-year-old Frenchman's contract was due to end at the conclusion of the current season and his future had been the source of speculation for months. Arsenal came a disappointing fifth in the Premier League this season, the first time they have finished outside the top four since Wenger took over at the club in 1996. However, Wenger was given a boost by Saturday's 2-1 win over champions Chelsea in the FA Cup final and was given the backing of the club's board at a meeting on Tuesday.
BCCI likely to interact with Kohli, Kumble
In a tight corner amid speculation of a rift between chief coach Anil Kumble and skipper Virat Kohli, the BCCI top brass seems to be in damage control mode and some key officials are likely to meet the duo separately in Birmingham. Questions are also being raised as to whether Kumble, an Indian cricketing legend, will be again taking part in the interview process despite his stupendous record, after what all has transpired in the past 72 hours. BCCI's joint secretary Amitabh Chaudhary and GM (Cricket Operations) M.V. Sridhar are scheduled to reach Birmingham today and are expected to take the initiative to speak to the coach and captain in order to understand the current situation. It has been learnt that BCCI will start with the process of coaches' interview after the Pakistan match on June 4. Today was the last day for sending application for coaches post as Kumble's one-year term ends with the Champions Trophy.
Bopanna in, Sania out
Rohan Bopanna crossed the first-round hurdle in men's doubles but Sania Mirza bowed out in the opening round of the women's doubles event in the French Open. Bopanna, along with his Uruguayan partner Pablo Cuevas, hardly had to break a sweat as they outplayed the French duo of Mathias Bourgue and Paul-Henri Mathieu in a one-sided contest. The ninth seeded Indo-Uruguayan pair posted a comfortable 6-1 6-1 victory over French combination in just 53 minutes. They will next take on Treat Huey and Denis Istomin. However, fourth seeded pair of Sania and Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan were stunned by unseeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia and Australia's Daria Gavrilova in a hard-fought match. Sania and Shvedova went down 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 2-6 to Pavlyuchenkova and Gavrilova in a gruelling battle that lasted 2 hours and 23 minutes.
Isinbayeva quits as anti-doping chair
Twice Olympic pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva has resigned as chair of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA), the Interfax news agency reported—a move that may help Russian athletes return to international competition. Isinbayeva was under pressure to quit as head of RUSADA's supervisory council after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) called for her removal, one of four steps it said were necessary for RUSADA to retrieve its right to oversee the testing of Russian athletes. "I will work and implement anti-doping programmes. I am simply transferring my seat to a new chairman," Interfax cited Isinbayeva as saying on Wednesday. Isinbayeva added she would remain a member of RUSADA's supervisory council despite her resignation as chairwoman. RUSADA was stripped of its WADA accreditation after a report published in November 2015 accused it of systematically violating anti-doping regulations. A majority of Russian athletes are set to miss the world championships in London in August if a separate but related ban against the country's athletics federation stays.
Praneeth, Sourabh win at Thailand Open
Sai Praneeth and Sourabh Verma advanced to the third round of the USD 120,000 Thailand Grand Prix Gold after notching up contrasting wins in the men's singles competition. Sourabh, seeded 12th, survived a challenge from compatriot Anand Pawar 21-17 20-22 21-14, while third seed Praneeth, who won the Singapore Open last month, defeated Malaysia's R. Satheishtharan 21-15 21-13 in another match. Young shuttler Sai Uttejitha Rao Chukka dished out a gallant fight to reach the second round with a 13-21 24-22 27 -25 win over Indonesia's Jesica Muljati in women's singles that lasted an hour and 16 minutes. However, it turned out to be a dismal day for other Indians with P Kashyap, Shreyansh Jaiswal and Subhankar Dey bowing out of the men's singles competition, while Reshma Karthik and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde faltered in the opening round of women's singles.
Historic first for India in golf
This week's ShopRite LPGA Classic in New Jersey will mark a historic moment for Indian women's golf as Aditi Ashok and Sharmila Nicollet will be teeing up at the event for the first time ever. Aditi, winner of the Hero Women's Indian Open among the two titles she bagged in her Rookie Year as a professional in 2016, has earned a special status on the LPGA. Sharmila topped a unique Twitter poll to gain one of the sponsors' berth in the USD 1.5 million event. Sharmila, who till a few years back played on the Ladies European Tour before losing her card due to injuries and loss of form, topped the poll, which was LPGA's way of popularising women's golf around the world. She won the poll, which featured one golfer each from America, Europe, South America and Asia. The Indian girl, who held the flag for Asia, topped the poll. Aditi has so far played five LPGA events and made cuts in four. Her best finish has been tied-42 so far, but it is clear that she is slowly but steadily adapting to the conditions in the USA, where she has started playing regularly now.
Tennis 'full of lesbians': Margaret Court
Australian 24-time Grand Slam winner Margaret Court said on radio that tennis was "full of lesbians", courting controversy again just a week after expressing her opposition to same-sex marriage. Court, 74, who is now a pastor, said: "Tennis is full of lesbians, because even when I was playing, there was only a couple there, but those couple that led, that took young ones into parties and things. And you know, what you get at the top is often what you'll get right through that sport," she said. "We're there to help them overcome. We're not against the people." Court drew public criticism last week after writing an open letter saying that she would not fly with Qantas Airlines due to its support for same-sex marriage. World number one Andy Murray, 18-time Grand Slam champion Martina Navratilova and several Australian players including Samantha Stosur, Nick Kyrgios and Jamiee Fourlis expressed disapproval of the comments.
BCCI invites bid for IPL title sponsorship
The Board of Control for Cricket in India has invited applications through its Invitation to tender process from parties to bid for the title sponsorship rights of its cash-cow, Indian Premier League, starting August 1 and ending on July 31, 2022. The ITT will be available at a cost of Rs 3 lakh on non-refundable basis from June 1 to 21 at the BCCI headquarters and the bids need to be submitted at 12 noon on June 27 at a place specified in the document or at any other place as decided and intimated by the Board. As per the ITT, issued as a newspaper advertisement by BCCI, the Board reserves the right at its discretion to cancel or amend the entire bidding process at any stage. Chinese mobile firm Vivo had bagged the title sponsorship right of the T20 League for a two-year period (2016 nd 2017), reportedly at a cost of Rs 100 crore per year, an upward rise of Rs 20 crore annually from what beverage giant Pepsi had paid through an earlier agreement beginning 2013. The firm that wins the next bid will be the title sponsors of IPL for the next five seasons beginning 2018.
