NEW DELHI, Mar 12: India ace Saina Nehwal will have to put behind her quarterfinal finish at the All England Championship and gather herself quickly to defend her title at the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold, which starts with the qualifiers at Basel, Switzerland tomorrow.
World number four Saina will open her campaign against Sayaka Sato of Japan in the women’s singles competition.
The 21-year-old Indian has a 2-1 record against the Japanese. The last time they meet, Saina had defeated her in straight games at the World Superseries Finals in 2011.
National champion P V Sindhu, who has been making a lot of news since last year at the international circuit, will take on Jie Yao of The Netherlands. (PTI)
INDIAN WELLS (USA), Mar 12: Sania Mirza and Elena Vesnina recovered from a second-set lapse against Timea Bacsinszky and Alberta Brianti to advance to the doubles quarter-finals of the Indian Wells WTA Premier event, here.
The second seeded Indo-Russian pair scored a 6-1 3-6 10-2 in the second round of the USD 5,536,664 hard court tournament.
Sania’s singles campaign had ended with a second round defeat against world number 26 Anabel Medina Garrigues. (PTI)
DODA, Mar 12:Young Star Sazan overcame the challenge of Youth Cricket Bhaderwah by two wickets in the final to clinch police public cricket tournament organised by District Police, Doda under Civic Action Programme (CAP) at Sports Stadium, Ghat here today.
Batting first, Youth Cricket Bhaderwah piled up 150 runs in the allotted 20 overs which in reply, Young Star Sazan overhauled by loosing eight wickets in the process.
SP Doda, Mohammad Arif Rishu was the chief guest on the occasion while Lt Col V S Chouhan of 8 RR was the guest of honour.
Cash prizes, trophies and commendation certificates were distributed amongst the winner and runner-up teams.
Mementos were also awarded to panel of umpires, commentators and scorers.
JAMMU, Mar 12:Bagh-e-Bahu XI scripted a thumping 7-wickets win over Young Star Cricket Club (YSCC) in an exhibition match organized by YSCC at M A Stadium here today.
Batting first after winning the toss, YSCC accumulated 128 runs in the stipulated 20 overs for the loss of six wickets.
Naval was the top scorer with 31 runs with five splendid hits to the fence while Shivam chipped in handy 27 runs off just 26 balls.
Abhimanyu and Abhishek contributed 18 runs apiece whereas Rattandeep Sharma also made a handy contribution of 11 runs to the total.
For Bagh-e-Bahu XI, Rahul was the chief destroyer with two wickets. Puneet claimed one wicket.
In reply, Bagh-e-Bahu XI did the needful in 17 overs with Monu (41) being the highest scorer. He faced only 29 balls which included five boundaries. Shami also played a handy knock of 37 runs off 28 balls.
For YSCC, Adit was the pick of the bowlers with two wickets while Rattandeep clinched one wicket.
Monu of Bagh-e-Bahu XI was adjudged as man of the match.
The match was officiated by Shashi Pal and Rajeev as umpires, while Sunil Kumar acted as scorer.
JAMMU, Mar 12:In a major initiative to provide much needed fillip to sports activities in the University of Jammu, sanction has been accorded to construct three lawn tennis courts in the university campus.
Prof Dhian Singh Bhau, Director, Directorate of Sports and Physical Education, while talking to the Excelsior confirmed that the tennis courts will be constructed soon.
“Prof MPS Ishar, Vice-Chancellor, University of Jammu, during his visit to the Directorate of Sports and Physical Education, on February 29 had a thorough inspection of the whole department”, said Prof Bhau.
“He stressed on the need for creation of adequate sports infrastructure besides proper repair and maintenance of the existing infrastructure”, Bhau informed.
“Vice-Chancellor also instructed to construct three lawn tennis courts and basketball court”, he added.
When asked him about the selection of location for construction of proposed lawn tennis and basketball courts, he said “we are in the process of selecting an appropriate location in the university campus to construct the same”.
Prof Dhian Singh Bhau said the tennis courts will be constructed on the lines of courts prepared in the Officers Mess at District Police Lines.
“Vice-Chancellor, Prof MPS Ishar is very keen to upgrade the standard of sports in the university”, said Prof Bhau adding “our sportspersons have performed reasonably well at various levels in different disciplines and construction of lawn tennis courts will definitely help in promoting the game”.
He, however, maintained that the construction of the courts is likely to commence in April.
JAMMU, Mar 12: The Rural Women Cultural and Sports Meet organised by Viraj Kala Kendra was held at Youth Hostel, Nagrota here today.
First Lady, Usha Vohra was the chief guest on the occasion who lauded the efforts of Viraj Kala Kendra for the socio-economic upliftment of the rural women, educational advancement of the children of slum areas and promotion of arts.
She further said there was no dearth of talent among the women and children of rural areas which needed to be channelised in right direction.
First Lady stressed on the importance of the right to education of all children, particularly the education of girl child saying that it was the key to progress and empowerment.
On behalf of Governor, Usha Vohra presented a cheque of ` 50000 to the management of Viraj Kala Kendra in providing education to the children from the less advantaged families.
She also gave away prizes to the participants of cultural programme and winners of sports events.
Raj Bharti, president, Viraj Kala Kendra, in her address presented a detailed report on the activities and functioning of the Kendra.
Dr Madhu Khullar, Director Health Services, Jammu, Dr Indu Koul Khoda, chairperson, Jammu and Kashmir Police Wives Welfare Association and members of Viraj Kala Kendra were also present.
Sushma Sharma presented the vote of thanks. The meet was sponsored by the Department of Youth Services and Sports.
BRAZZAVILLE, CONGO, Mar 12: Morgue workers hurried to finish washing the bodies of hundreds of people killed in last week’s explosion at a Congo military base ahead of their state funeral today the single largest loss of life in this Central African nation.
At least 246 people were killed one week ago when an arms depot inside a military barracks went up in flames, setting off a lethal downpour of grenades, mortars and shells.
The detonation flattened buildings, including churches, schools, dormitories and businesses, crushing scores of people.
Only 168 of the bodies have been identified so far, according to morgue records.
The government has ordered them to be laid to rest in identical coffins in order to convey the national character of the loss.
Overnight, families camped out in front of the morgue, waiting for the name of their relative to be read on the outdoor speaker.
They held shopping bags with the new clothes they had bought to dress their loves ones—dinner jackets or suits for the men, and wedding dresses for the women and girls, in keeping with local funeral tradition.
When their turn came, they were ushered inside, and allowed to wash and dress the corpse. The coffins were being loaded on trucks for transport to the ceremony ground. (AGENCIES)
PARIS, Mar 12: President Nicolas Sarkozy threatened in a key re-election campaign rally today to pull France out of Europe’s 25-nation visa free zone unless the EU toughens its immigration policy.
Sarkozy, who this week said France had too many foreigners, made the threat at a mass meeting which he hopes will turn the tide against front-running Socialist Francois Hollande with just 42 days to go before election day.
The so-called Schengen passport-free zone must urgently be overhauled to fight the flow of illegal immigration, said the right-wing leader, returning to a constant theme in his bid for five more years at the Elysee palace.
To chants of “Nicolas, president!” from the tens of thousands in the flag-waving audience, Sarkozy said unchecked immigration would put extra strain on social safety nets for Europe’s poorest.
“In the coming 12 months, (if) there is no serious progress towards this (reforming Schengen), France would then suspend its participation in the Schengen accords until negotiations conclude,” he declared.
The Schengen area is home to 400 million Europeans who can cross borders without a passport. Once inside the area, illegal immigrants can theoretically move freely between the participating states.
Sarkozy’s UMP party chartered TGV high-speed trains and fleets of buses to ferry supporters from across France for the rally in a cavernous exhibition hall in Villepinte, near Paris Charles de Gaulle airport.
Sarkozy told them he also wanted the EU to introduce a “Buy European Act” based on a US measure that obliges the state to use domestically-produced products in public contracts. (Agencies)
NEW YORK, Mar 12: US authorities say Jamaican drug kingpin Christopher “Dudus” Coke was so ruthless that he once ordered a rival killed with a chainsaw.
However, another episode left a more lasting impression with the general public: He was arrested wearing a curly black wig.
A mug shot of Coke wearing the wig as a disguise while on the run went viral on the Internet after his capture in Jamaica during a bloody siege of his ghetto stronghold in 2010 that left more than 70 dead. At the time, he waived extradition to the United States and vowed to fight drug trafficking, gun smuggling, racketeering and other charges.
But following a guilty plea last year, Coke faces up to 23 years in prison at sentencing this week in federal court in Manhattan.
The 43-year-old Coke has sought mercy in a letter to the judge, seven handwritten pages that in tone are formal and polite but in substance barely touch upon a litany of accusations painting him as a cold-blooded killer.
“Good day to you, sir,” he wrote. “I am humbly asking if you could be lenient on me.”
Prosecutors have argued that leniency isn’t an option. They want Coke to serve the maximum term and be deported.
Coke was a divisive figure in Jamaica, where he followed in the footsteps of his father, Lester Lloyd Coke, better known as Jim Brown, a leader of the notorious Shower Posse during the 1980s cocaine wars. Authorities say he took over the organisation when his father, also sought in the United States, died in a mysterious fire in a Jamaican prison cell in 1992.
Once in power, Coke became a folk hero to some followers in the West Kingston slum of Tivoli Gardens. He listed his good deeds in his letter to the judge—throwing Easter parties for seniors, passing out school supplies and Christmas gifts to children and starting a school to teach computer skills to the disadvantaged. (Agencies)
CARACAS, Mar 12: Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez said he will return home from Cuba where he is recovering from cancer surgery next Sunday, to head up a re-election campaign.
Chavez was speaking during a televised appearance where he met with his cabinet ministers to show he is in full control of the government despite his illness. (agencies)
