India in knockout stage of Sudirman Cup
The Indian badminton team sealed a place in the knockout stage of the Sudirman Cup mixed team championship, despite Indonesia pulling off a stunning 3-2 victory over Denmark in the last match of the Group 1D. Ninth-seeded India had kept themselves afloat for a quarterfinal spot after shocking fifth-seeded Indonesia 4-1 in a thrilling match yesterday. In the 'Group of death', all the three teams—India, Denmark and Indonesia—won one of the two matches that they played but the first two teams qualified riding on their game score, that is, the number of games won in favour and lost to from each match played in the league. Denmark (6-4) topped the group, followed by India (5-5) and Indonesia (4-6) after the completion of the league stage. India had managed to reach the knockout stage of the tournament only once during the 2011 edition, while in the last two editions they couldn't even cross the group stage.
Sindhu elected member of BWF Athletes' commission
Olympic silver medallist P.V. Sindhu became one of the members of the BWF Athletes' Commission after the end of voting for the four places on the representative body. The 21-year-old Indian topped the ballot with 129 votes as she led a trio of women onto the BWF Athletes' Commission. Apart from Sindhu, Kirsty Gilmour of Scotland was placed third overall with 103 votes and Lithuania's Akvile Stapusaityte (25 votes) was the third woman elected to the Commission. Voting took place on the sidelines of the ongoing Sudirman Cup in Gold Coast as well as via email during the past month. A total of 183 valid votes were cast. There were two invalid votes. The new Athletes' Commission members will join Shintaro Ikeda of Japan, Koen Ridder of the Netherlands and India's Saina Nehwal on the players' representative body.
Messi's 21-month prison sentence for tax fraud upheld
The Spanish Supreme Court upheld the 21-month prison sentence handed down by a Barcelona court to FC Barcelona's Argentinian star forward Lionel Messi for tax fraud. Spain's highest court also upheld the conviction of Messi's father, although it reduced his prison term from 21 to 15 months. Messi had been found guilty on three tax fraud counts after he evaded a total of 4.1 million euros ($4.59 million) in taxes accrued from the exploitation of his image rights. Jorge Messi's reduced sentence came as a result of having returned part of the money owed to the Spanish tax authorities. However, their sentencing does not imply that both Messis end up physically serving time in prison, as it is standard policy in Spain that any prison sentence under two years is suspended by the court handing the verdict, as long as the defendant does not indulge in any additional criminal malfeasance.
Indian athlete under doping shadow
A top Indian athlete has been handed a provisional suspension by the National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) after testing positive for banned performance enhancing substance meldonium. Talking to a news channel, NADA Director General Naveen Agarwal said that the athlete was handed the provisional suspension but refused to disclose the athlete's name. He, however, disclosed that over 20 syringes of the banned substance were found in the athlete's hostel room at the Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports (NIS) in Patiala. The athlete was member of the Indian squad at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games and the Incheon Asian Games in 2014. According to Agarwal, NADA has told the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) to ask the athlete to leave the national camp currently underway at NIS, Patiala, until he can prove his innocence.
PCB, BCCI officials to meet in Dubai
The top brass of Pakistan Cricket Board is supposed to meet their counterparts from BCCI in Dubai later this month. According to reliable sources in the board, the meeting has been scheduled on May 29 as part of an attempt to resolve the issues between the two boards. "PCB Chairman, Shaharyar Khan, Najam Sethi and chief operating officer, Subhan Ahmad will be representing Pakistan at the meeting which will be attended by BCCI officials and a member of the interim committee in India," one source said. The PCB has sent a notice of intent to the BCCI claiming compensation of around USD 69.4 million for India not honouring the MOU signed between the two boards in 2014 to play six bilateral series between 2015 and 2023. Pakistan under the MOU is supposed to host four of the series.
Women boxers get foreign coach for first time
In a historic first for Indian boxing, Frenchman Stephane Cottalorda, an AIBA three-star coach, has been roped in to train the country's women pugilists for a nearly two-year term. The 41-year-old, who is a member of the European Boxing Confederation's coaches commission, will be joining the boxers in the first week of June. In addition, Italy's Raffaele Bergamasco has been roped in for the youth women boxers, while the recently-appointed men's coach Santiago Nieva has been handed a contract till December 2020. Bergamasco, also an International Boxing Association (AIBA) three-star coach, too has been appointed till December 2020. Cottalorda, however, has come in till December 2018 for the time being. "The contracts of all the three coaches were finalised yesterday after a meeting at the Sports Authority of India. We are looking to bring about stability in the Indian coaching set-up with this," a top Boxing Federation of India official said.
Bagan, EB will not pay franchise fee
Emboldened by the West Bengal government's support, Indian football heavyweights Mohun Bagan and East Bengal decided they will not pay any franchise fee to play in the lucrative Indian Super League. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee extended full support to the heavyweights, according to IFA president Utpal Ganguli, who had a meeting with the chief minister. With the last date to bid approaching fast, the two clubs' officials wasted little time and met Sports Minister Aroop Biswas, who took them to the chief minister's office in the state secretariat Nabanna. This happened less than 24 hours after they met with AIFF secretary Kushal Das in Delhi with their proposal to waive off the Rs 15 crore franchise fee.
Griezmann might leave Atletico Madrid
Atletico Madrid striker Antoine Griezmann has dropped two major hints that he is preparing to leave the Spanish football club this summer. The French international said in a TV interview in France on Monday night that there was a "six out of 10 chance" he could leave Atletico for Manchester United, Land he followed that up with stronger declarations on Tuesday. Speaking at the launch of his autobiography "Behind the Smile" the 26-year-old, who last season scored 16 league goals for Atletico, admitted he was frustrated at Atletico going close, but failing to win major titles. However, the striker commented that if Atletico were to sign the players they needed to win major title he could be persuaded to stay. One problem Atletico have, however is that at the moment they are banned from making any new signings by world football governing body, FIFA due to irregularities in signing foreign players for their youth system.
