Boss Domenicali reveals Ferrari fear

BAHRAIN, April 23: Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali fears further “suffering” this weekend could result in a piece of unwanted history.

For the first time since 1981 Ferrari have failed to score a point in the opening three grands prix of the season as mistakes combined with mechanical failures have undermined the performances of Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen.

But never in their illustrious past has the Prancing Horse started a year without a point from the first four races and that is the frightening prospect that hangs over the team in Bahrain.
Like their bitter rivals McLaren, Ferrari have not made the most of the new regulations, although their cause was hampered last year as they ploughed time and resources into the title fight.

That has led to them starting off on the wrong foot this season and a changing of the guard at the head of the pack, yet, unlike McLaren, they have not taken a noticeable step forward.

That is likely to happen at the Spanish Grand Prix early next month as a new aero package, combined with the now renowned double-decker diffuser, will be in evidence.

But for this weekend at the Sakhir circuit, Domenicali is warning the team’s ardent followers to expect more pain, with little gain.

Vijay wins silver at ISSF World Cup

NEW DELHI: Commonwealth Games Champion Vijay Kumar won the silver medal in 25 m rapid-fire pistol event at the ISSF World Cup at Beijing on Wednesday

He fired a brilliant 780.4 which included 581 in the qualifying round and an excellent score of 199.4 in the finals. Vijay missed the gold by just 0.1 point.

Keith Sanderson of USA bagged the gold medal scoring 780.5 (584+196.5) and Akiyama Teruyoshi of Japan won the bronze with 777.5 (579+198.5) points.

Yuki beats Moriya to enter ITF quarters

NEW DELHI: Indian wildcard Yuki Bhambri beat Japanese Hiroki Moriya for the third successive time in two years, outclassing the fourth-seed 6-2, 6-2, to enter the quarter-finals of the $15,000 International Tennis Federation (ITF) men's Futures at the DLTA complex on Wednesday.

The junior Australian Open champion had beaten Moriya at the 2007 Asia-Oceania championship and in the prestigious Osaka Mayor Cup final last year.

The 16-year-old Indian played near flawless tennis, serving sharp, hitting his forehand fluently and moving fluidly on court. With the Delhi youngster in such form there was hardly anything that the Japanese could have done.

To make matters worse, Moriya committed quite a few unforced errors to lose his serve in the third and fifth games of the first set. He could have lost the set in the seventh game itself but for his saving three set-points to hold serve. Yuki then served out the set to love.

Things didn't get any better for Moriya in the second set as he dropped serve twice more, in the third and the fifth game, to close the match in 57 minutes.

Yuki, fresh from his stint at Florida with the Nick Bollettieri Academy, however, said he didn't expect the win to be so easy.

"I was expecting a tough fight. Moriya is someone who is a rhythm player, slugging it out from the baseline. But I did not allow him to settle," said Yuki, who rushed after the match to take his Class X exam from the open school.

"I have been serving well and that takes a lot of pressure off me. Now I don't get flustered even if I am a couple of points down as I know I can always bank on my serve. I have also tried to develop my forehand as a weapon. I am consciously going for my shots as on a hard court you cannot go for long rallies."

Yuki next plays eighth-seeded Rohan Gajjar, who rallied to beat national champion Ranjeeth Virali-Murugesan 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in another pre-quarter-final clash.

"I have a good chance in the tournament. I expect a tough match tomorrow against Rohan. With the second seed out, the draw is open. If I can pull it off against Rohan, then I can have a shot at the title," Yuki said.

In another pre-quarter-final match, Vishnu Vardhan showed the door to Vivek Shokeen with a 6-3, 6-4 win.

Meanwhile, it was curtains for Purav Raja, who went down 2-6, 4-6, to American Adam El Mithdawy and, Vijay Kannan, who stretched seventh seed Sean Thornley of England to three sets before losing 3-6, 6-3, 4-6.

Soruce:http://sports.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Yuki-beats-Moriya-to-enter-ITF-quarters/articleshow/4435974.cms

A T20 match at the Himalayas, Tenzing vs Hillary

LONDON: Cricket touched a new high with a few mountaineers playing a Twenty20 match just above the base camp of the world's highest peak — the Mount Everest — to raise 250,000 pounds for charity.

The two teams, Tenzing and Hillary, named after the first two men to climb the Everest, played the game at 16,945 ft.

Team Tenzing were led by Haydn Main, 29, a lawyer from South London but it was Team Hillary, skippered by a New Zealand Glen Lowis, that won by 36 runs.

Both sides took 15 players for the game, besides the medical staff and groundsmen, all of whom made the nine-day trek to reach the pitch.

Both sides celebrated their feat with a giant bottle of champagne and several cups of tea. They raised 250,000 pounds through the game for Lord' Taverners and the Himalayan Trust UK.

The match was played on a pitch on the Gorak Shep plateau in Nepal, Richard Kirtley, the expedition leader told 'The Times'.

"I assumed they must use it as a pitch. So I asked a few of the locals, but no one had ever thought about doing it," he said.

Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

Mohun Bagan humiliated 0-6 by Al Kuwait, out of AFC Cup

New Delhi, Apr 22 (PTI) Mohun Bagan's horrendous run in the AFC Cup continued with a 0-6 humiliation at the hands Al Kuwait in a Group D league match in Kuwait City.

Mohun Bagan are now out of contention for a last 16 berth having lost all their three earlier matches. They still have two games at hand -- away tie against Al Widdat of Jordan on May 5 and home match against Al Karamah of Syria on May 19.

Al Kuwait are on top of Group D with 10 points from four matches followed by Al Wihdat and Al Karamah on seven and six points respectively.

Two top teams from each of eight groups will make it to the pre-quarterfinal knock-out phase of the tournament, Asia's second tier club competition.

Al Kuwait completely dominated the match taking 4-0 lead by the half time and Mohun Bagan, though without talismanic striker and captain Baichung Bhutia and key central defender Peter Odafe due to injuries, had to defend their citadel for most part of the match last night.

Syrian midfielder Jehad Al Hussien was the star of the Kuwaiti side pumping in a hat-trick (ninth, 22nd, 72nd minutes). Captain Faraj Laheeb (34th, 39th) and Jarah Al Ataiqi's (78th) were the other goal scorers for the home side.

NS Manju had a nightmarish day at Bagan defence conceding a spot kick and then scoring an own goal to play a big role in the abject surrender of the Kolkata side.

PTI

Dinara Safina is the new tennis queen, without glamour

MADRID: Dinara Safina made tennis history for herself and her family when she officially climbed to the world No.1 position in the women's rankings on Monday.

Safina, 22, is at the top for the first time. Her brother Marat Safin led the men's rankings for nine weeks in 2000, making them the first brother-sister act to be number one in the singles rankings.

"I didn't know about that until recently. I was told that we are the first family. That is a huge honour, and I am proud of my brother, he has achieved everything in tennis," Safina said.

Safin is playing in the dusk of his career far from the top of the rankings at age 29, but Safina rejects all criticism that he could have done better over the years than the 2000 US Open and 2005 Australian Open title.

"I think he has achieved a lot," said Safina, adding: "My brother was always my idol."

Successful brothers and sisters are rare in sport.

Zimbabwe's Cara and Byron Black got to the tennis doubles rankings top, there are the skiing acts of Hanni and Andreas Wenzel of Liechtenstein and Janica and Ivica Kostelic of Croatia, and US athletics greats Jackie Joyner-Kersee and AL Joyner both won Olympic gold medals.

Safina's career has seen a remarkable turnaround in the past year.

Ranked just inside the top 20, Safina was on the verge of quitting the sport after poor results in early 2008, but then got her act together with four 2008 titles and her first big finals at the French Open and the Olympics.

She also made the January 2009 decider of the Australian Open, losing a showdown for the trophy and the world number one position to American Serena Williams.

Safina attributes the rise to coach Zeljko Krajan, who, she said, made her see tennis in a "positive" way.

It has not gone unnoticed that Safina - like Serb Jelena Jankovic last year - is now top without having won a Grand Slam, but she swiftly dismissed any criticism.

"I can win every one of the remaining three Grand Slams of the year. Every one!" she said.

Safina is the 19th number one overall since the rankings were introduced in 1975 as the race for the top has become very tight in recent months with several changes.

"There are many girls in the top 10 who play well. In the past there were only a few, the others were only average," said Safina.

Safina is the second Russian atop the rankings, but considers herself far from the glamour of the other top-ranked star, Maria Sharapova.

"We are totally different, you can't compare us at all," she said. "We are both fighters, we don't like losing."

After all, for Safina only the on-court performance counts, not the latest designer dress.

"I have no favourite brand and no favourite designer. I simply wear clothes that suit me. I just want to feel good," she said.

That is definitely the case on court and the top ranking adds to the good feeling of the hard-hitting baseliner.

"I am only interested in tennis at the moment, I want to concentrate entirely on that. When you realise a dream (of being number one) it is unbelievable and difficult to explain. I want to be the best in everything I do," she said.

Source:http://sports.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Dinara-Safina-is-the-new-tennis-queen/articleshow/4425998.cms

Sania Mirza rises in WTA rankings

NEW DELHI: Her poor singles form notwithstanding, Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza rose seven places to 93rd spot in the WTA rankings issued on Monday.


Sania, who crashed out in the second round of the Family Circle Cup last week, has 692 ranking points.

In doubles, however, Sania has dropped to 60 th with 1696 points.

In the ATP rankings, Leander Paes gained a spot to fifth with 6980 points, while Mahesh Bhupathi remained static at ninth with 5795 points.

Source:http://sports.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Sania-Mirza-rises-in-WTA-rankings/articleshow/4424988.cms

India's T20 team doesn't need me, says Tendulkar

CAPE TOWN: A lazy Sunday morning, the first hurdle crossed, and Sachin Tendulkar was in the mood. He had come down to for a commercial event in the team hotel and with a handful of media persons around, Tendulkar seemed to be opening his heart out.

Going back to his childhood days when he used to pick his own fantasy team with Sunil Gavaskar and Viv Richards as certainties, to why he is not playing international T20 cricket, Tendulkar was ready to play every ball.

Times Blog: Warney, call back Kaif

After so many years of international cricket, is there a special feeling after showing the world, along with Rahul Dravid, that T20 cricket can also be played in a different vein? Sachin agreed, but only to a certain extent.

"This was probably my most satisfying T20 innings. But neither me, nor Rahul, have anything more to prove to the world.

We play just for the love of it," Tendulkar said with a smile hanging on his lips.

"All my life, I have played according to the situation. Yesterday, on a difficult wicket, the team wanted me to buckle down and bat through and I did just that," Tendulkar said, talking about his unbeaten 59 that won Mumbai Indians the opener against Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s Team Chennai.

Probably, his son Arjun was more excited about the innings than the man himself. "Arjun was saying quite a few things...he was actually excited," Sachin joked.

Had he been 25, Tendulkar would surely have liked to play international T20 cricket, but not now, not anymore.

"I backed out of 2007 T20 World Cup because my body was not 100 per cent. I just didn’t want to be a burden on the team," he said.

But now that he is in such great form, why is he so adamant about not playing the T20 World Cup? "No point. This Indian team has gelled quite beautifully as a unit and there’s no need why I should be playing T20 cricket," Tendulkar added.

Not that Tendulkar dislikes the T20 format, but there’s something about it which can’t make him take it too seriously. Not that he would say it in as many words, but Tendulkar made it clear that technique doesn’t really matter too much in T20 cricket.

"If you play some of the T20 shots in Test cricket, you’ll be sitting there in the dressing-room for the next two days. But here you get runs for the same shot."

Source:http://ipl.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Indias-T20-team-doesnt-need-me-Tendulkar/articleshow/4422377.cms

Aussies rise to No. 2 spot with 47-run win

Johannesburg: Australia regained their world number two ranking with a comfortable 47-run win over South Africa in the fifth and final one-day international at the Wanderers Stadium on Friday.

Australia took advantage of being given first use of an excellent batting pitch by South African captain Graeme Smith, making 303 for seven despite a mid-innings stumble.

Despite a second wicket stand of 104 between Herschelle Gibbs and Jacques Kallis, South Africa fell steadily behind the asking rate and wickets fell at regular intervals after Gibbs was out for 82

The series win meant that South Africa retained their world number one ranking. Australia briefly slipped to third behind India after losing the fourth match in Port Elizabeth on Monday but returned to the number two spot with their consolation win.

South Africa won the series 3-2 following a 4-1 series win in Australia earlier in the series. The two teams shared the honours in two Test series, with South Africa winning 2-1 in Australia and the Australians reversing the result in South Africa.

"It's a good way to finish," said Australian captain Ricky Ponting."We were pretty disappointed with the way we played over the last few games so to bounce back today is a good thing for the group. It's been a really tough few months of cricket."

Smith said he was happy with the overall results. "It's been a terrific summer for South African cricket," he said.

Brad Haddin and Michael Clarke gave Australia a flying start when they put on 127 off 116 balls for the first wicket.Haddin hit 62 off 64 balls and Clarke 66 off 69 as they put together their second successive century partnership. But they were out in quick succession.

Ponting (40) and Callum Ferguson (41) added 54 for the third wicket before Australia again struggled against South Africa's slow bowlers. Left-arm spinner Roelof van der Merwe took two for 44 and off-spinner JP Duminy made up for the absence of Johan Botha by bowling a full quota of ten overs and taking three for 48. He also held three catches, one off his own bowling.

Gibbs and captain Graeme Smith put on 46 for the first wicket for South Africa before Gibbs and Kallis (64) put the hosts in a winning position.But Gibbs missed a sweep against man of the match, off-spinner Nathan Hauritz, and South Africa found themselves on a slide when Kallis drove at a wide ball from left-arm seam bowler Nathan Bracken.

Ben Laughlin held a remarkable catch to dismiss South African danger man Albie Morkel on the midwicket boundary, leaping high and maintaining his balance to land inside the rope.

South Africa called for the batting power play in the next over and with the first delivery Laughlin bowled man of the series AB de Villiers for 38 to make victory for Australia almost certain.

Source:http://cricketnext.in.com/news/aussies-rise-to-no-2-spot-with-47run-win/40045-13-1.html

Djokovic reaches semi-finals at Monte Carlo

MONACO: Third-seeded Novak Djokovic reached the semi-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters for the second consecutive year by beating No. 7 Fernando Verdasco of Spain 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 on Friday.

Djokovic broke Verdasco, the Australian Open semi-finalist, in the sixth game of the deciding set and closed out the match on serve.

Djokovic, who reached the semi-finals of the French Open on clay last year, will meet either No. 13 Stanislas Wawrinka or German qualifier Andreas Beck in the last four.

Earlier, top-ranked Rafael Nadal stretched his winning streak at the Monte Carlo Masters to 24 matches by beating Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador 6-3, 6-0 in the third round. The match had been suspended Thursday due to heavy rain, with Lapentti up 1-0 in the first set.

Nadal was to play a second match on Friday, facing Ivan Ljubicic in the quarterfinals. Ljubicic beat Simone Bolelli of Italy 7-5, 7-6 (2).

Each time Nadal has won the Monte Carlo title he has gone on to capture the French Open. The Spaniard has won 18 straight matches on clay since losing to Juan Carlos Ferrero in the second round of the Rome Masters in May 2008.

Fourth-seeded Andy Murray overcame a poor start to beat Fabio Fognini of Italy 7-6 (11), 6-4 to reach a quarterfinal on clay for the first time in his career.

The match was split over two days after rain halted Thursday's play at the start of the second set with Murray leading 1-0 and Fognini serving at 40-40.

Murray had never advanced past the third round on clay. Murray was playing the eighth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko of Russia later Friday. Davydenko beat No. 12 David Nalbandian of Argentina 6-4, 5-7, 6-3.

Source:http://sports.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

Chennai confirmed as Davis Cup venue

LONDON: The International Tennis Federation says the Davis Cup match between India and Australia will take place in Chennai as originally planned despite security concerns voiced by the visitors.

The second-round tie in Asia-Oceania Group 1 will take place on 8-10 May.

In a statement released the Davis Cup Web site, the ITF said Chennai was approved by the Davis Cup Committee following "a positive report from the ITF's security consultants."

Australian tennis officials had sought a change of venue amid heightened concerns about security for sports events on the Indian sub continent, following a terror attack on the Sri Lanka cricket team in Lahore, Pakistan last month.

Source:http://sports.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

Hamburg ousts Man City to reach UEFA Cup semis

MANCHESTER, April 17 (AP): Hamburg eliminated Manchester City to reach the UEFA Cup semifinals, surviving a 2-1 loss in England to advance 4-3 on aggregate.

Hamburg held a 3-1 lead after the first leg in Germany, and Paolo Guerrero extended the advantage by scoring after 12 minutes. But Elano responded four minutes later from the penalty spot and Felipe Caicedo scored City’s second in the 50th yesterday.

Elano had a free kick hit the woodwork in each half, as City couldn’t score the third goal needed to force the match into extra time.

Paes-Dlouhy enter Rolex Masters quarterfinal

New Delhi, Apr 16 (PTI) Leander Paes and his partner Lukas Dlouhy entered the quarterfinals of the euro 2,750,000 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters in Monaco, defeating unseeded Spaniard duo of Albert Montanes and Tommy Robredo in a match tie-breaker.

The third seed Indo-Czech pair had to stretch themselves to the limit to beat Montanes and Robredo 2-6 7-6(5) 10-8 in the third round.

Paes and Dlouhy will next face seventh seeds Julian Knowle of Austria and Andy Ram of Israel.

Knowle-Ram combination defeated Simon Aspelin of Sweden and South African Wesley Moodie 7-6(3) 6-2 in another third round encounter.
PTI

Sania falters at Venus hurdle in Family Circle Cup

Charleston, Apr 16 (PTI) Sania Mirza put up a spirited challenge against multiple Grand Slam winner and second seed Venus Williams before going down in a tough three-setter in the second round of the USD one million WTA Family Circle Cup here.

The Indian ace, fresh after her doubles title win at a Florida WTA event last week, fought valiantly against Venus but ran out of steam as the world number five American used her experience to pocket the encounter 1-6 6-3 2-6.

The match, however, started on an expected note with Venus coming out all guns blazing against Sania. The American won nine of the first 11 games to race on to a 6-1, 3-1 lead.

Down by a set and break in the second, Sania made a remarkable comeback into the match with the help of her monstrous forehand.

She took seven of the next nine games to win the second set 6-3 and then take a 2-1 in the third.
PTI

Sports Minister flays Dhoni, Harbhajan's casualness

New Delhi, Apr 16 (PTI) Sports Minister MS Gill today flayed the 'casualness' of Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh for skipping the Padma Shri function and said the Ministry would soon issue a circular to ensure that sportspersons treat national awards with utmost respect.

Dhoni and his India teammate Harbhajan were conspicuous by their absence at the Rashtrapati Bhavan ceremony where they were expected to accept the Padma Shri awards from President Pratibha Patil.

Even though reports claimed the duo gave it a miss because of their commercial pre-occupations, Harbhajan cited family commitment as the reason for skipping the event.

The Sports Minister, however, was not convinced and even though he refused to name the duo, Gill said he would not brook such casualness by anyone.

"To be selected for such a national honour and then getting the opportunity of receiving it from the President of India is a rare good fortune and must be treated with greatest respect. I certainly don't approve of any casualness in anyone's approach," Gill told PTI.

And to ensure it does not happen again, the Ministry would issue a new circular soon, he said.
PTI

Sania Mirza books meeting with Venus in Charleston

CHARLESTON: Sania Mirza booked a second-round clash with second-seeded Venus Williams on Tuesday with a straight-sets victory in the one million-dollar Family Circle Cup.

Sania Mirza beat Sesil Karatantcheva of Kazakhstan 6-4, 6-4 to line up the marquee meeting with Williams, who will be launching her campaign on Wednesday afternoon after enjoying a first-round bye.

Top-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva, who rose to a career-high ranking of number three in the world last week, reached the third round with a dominant 6-0, 6-2 victory over American Julie Ditty.

"I don't feel any pressure being the number one seed here," Dementieva said. "Tonight was a good start to the tournament for me. I had never played Julie before so I really didn't want her to get into the match. It's easy to lose your concentration. I really stayed focused tonight."

Third-seeded Vera Zvonareva and number four Nadia Petrova, both of Russia, also reached the third round, as did sixth-seeded Marion Bartoli of France and seventh-seeded Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova.

Zvonareva cruised past Paraguay's Rossana de los Rios 6-3, 6-2.

"I felt pretty good for my first match of the year on clay," said Zvonareva, a finalist here last year. "I didn't expect myself to play my best, and it was a bit of a struggle at times because of the wind, but it was pretty good."

Fourth-seeded Petrova beat Austrian Patricia Mayr 6-1, 2-6, 6-2, Bartoli defeated Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia 6-1, 6-3 and Cibulkova downed Austrian Tamira Paszek 6-4, 6-0.

Source:http://sports.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Sania-books-meeting-with-Venus/articleshow/4403034.cms

Federer advances to 3rd round at Monte Carlo Masters

MONACO: Roger Federer made a successful season debut on clay Wednesday, beating Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-4, 6-4 on Wednesday to reach the third round of the Monte Carlo Masters.

Federer wobbled briefly when serving for the match, going 30-40 down. But the second-ranked player got a reprieve when Seppi's return bounced out and Federer clinched the match when another Seppi return sailed long. It was Federer's first match since getting married last weekend.

"I am very happy to have won my first match on clay," said Federer, who can equal Pete Sampras for 14 major titles if wins the French Open for the first time. "It takes some time to adjust to the surface, the rebounds and the sliding."

Federer's win sets up a match Thursday against the 13th-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka - his doubles partner at the Beijing Olympics - who outlasted Martin Vassallo Arguello of Argentina 2-6, 7-5, 6-2.

Later, top-ranked Rafael Nadal began his bid for a fifth straight Monte Carlo title with a match against Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina.

Federer saved two break points in a patchy first set but clinically took his first chance on Seppi's serve in the ninth game to move 5-4 ahead. He took the opening set with a crisp backhand down the line.

The Swiss star, who married his longtime girlfriend Mirka Vavrinec in a small ceremony in his hometown of Basel on Saturday, broke Seppi in the opening game of the second set with another clinical backhand pass.

Federer has beaten Seppi three times this year and improved to 5-0 overall without dropping a set against the big-serving Italian player.

In other second-round matches Wednesday, there were straight-sets wins for the seventh-seeded Fernando Verdasco of Spain, No. 8 Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, Simone Bolelli of Italy, and Albert Montanes of Spain.

Verdasco eased past Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-3, 6-4; Daydenko beat Ivo Karlovic of Croatia 6-4, 6-3; Bolelli beat Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia 7-5, 6-3, and Montanes beat Jean-Rene Lisnard of Monaco 6-2, 6-4.

Source:http://sports.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Federer-advances-to-3rd-round-at-Monte-Carlo/articleshow/4406113.cms

Rajasthan Royals axe Mohammad Kaif

NEW DELHI: The Rajasthan Royals, which won last year's inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 tournament, has axed former Test player and Uttar Pradesh captain Mohammad Kaif and seven other players from the squad that will do duty in the second edition.

They will now fly back to India. Kaif was purchased for a hefty $675,000 US at the auction last year, but didn't have much of a role during the victorious campaign.

Kaif had played all the matches last year, but could manage only 176 runs at an average of just 16. He didn't make a single half century, largely because he was shunted lower down the order. The 28-year-old Kaif has played 13 Tests and 125 One-dayers for India so far, reports said.

Source:http://ipl.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Rajasthan-Royals-axe-Mohammad-Kaif/articleshow/4405762.cms

Dempo, E Bengal to vie for fourth spot in I-League

Kolkata, Apr 15 (PTI) With the title out of their reach, defending champions Dempo SC and East Bengal will aim for the fourth spot in the ONGC I-League standings, locking horns at the Vidyasagar Krirangan here tomorrow.

But a positive result for the Goans will help them gain confidence when they take on Bahrain outfit Muharraq in the AFC Cup on April 21.

Occupying the pole position in Group E with seven points from three matches, Dempo are in line for a pre-quarterfinal berth in that championship.

Obviously, Armando Colaco's boys have AFC as the priority and would look to count the positives by winning against East Bengal ahead of their international outing in Goa.

With their ace striker Ranty Martins and midfielder Roberto Mendis Silva ruled out of the AFC Cup match due to double bookings, Colaco said they have to be vigilant in their last league match.

"I've told the boys to play their natural game but at the same time they should not do anything silly so that our side gets depleted in the AFC Cup home match," said Colaco who is expected to field a full side against the red-and-gold brigade.

PTI

Gagan Narang wins gold, fetches his second World Cup medal

New Delhi, Apr 15 (PTI) Gagan Narang today became first Indian ever to win two medals in a single ISSF World Cup when he claimed gold in the men's 50 metre rifle 3 position in Chongwon, Korea.

Narang, who earlier won the bronze in his pet 10 meter air rifle event, shot 1166 in the qualification round and 98 in the finals to aggregate maximum 1264 points.

The Hyderabad marksman, who reached the finals of all three events he participated here, is also the first Indian to climb the podium in the 50 mt range, according to the National Rifle Association of India.

He had narrowly missed a medal in the free rifle prone event.

Among other Indians in the fray, Sanjeev Rajput finished sixth with 1258.7 (1160+98.7) while Sushil Ghalay failed to make the finals, ending up 11th with qualification round scores of 1155.

The silver and bronze medals respectively went to Jinseop Han of Korea for his effort of 1261.9 (1165+96.9) and Alexei Kamenski of Russia for garnering 1261.7 (1167+94.7) points.
PTI