Officials from North and South  Korea will meet at the International Olympic Committee's  headquarters on January 20 to hammer out the details of the  North's participation at next month's Winter Games, the IOC  said today.
"The participants will be a delegation from the  PyeongChang 2018 Organising Committee and delegations from the  (Olympic committees) of the Republic of Korea and the  Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), all led  by their respective presidents, as well as high-ranking  government officials and the IOC members in both countries,"  the IOC said.
"The meeting will have to take a series of essential  decisions, including the number and names of athletes and  officials from the NOC of the DPRK, since all the deadlines  for registration have already passed.
"The IOC will also have to decide on the format of such  participation, including questions related to the official  protocol (flag, anthem, ceremonies, uniform, etc.)."
The news followed a meeting ...

IOC to host North, South Korea officials for Olympic planning

PTI Automatic

Pakistan's top all-rounder Emad  Wasim has been ruled out of the T20 series in New Zealand  after the national selectors confirmed that he is yet to  recover completely from a knee injury.
Chief selector, Inzamam-ul-Haq while naming a 15-member  squad for the three match T20 series in New Zealand also  announced that batsman, Sohaib Maqsood was also ruled out with  a back problem.
"Both Emad and Sohaib have been told to work on their  fitness at the National Cricket Academy under supervision of  the PCB medical panel," Inzamam said.
Emad also missed the ODI series due to the knee problem.
He said Sohaib was under consideration due to his fine  form in domestic cricket but got ruled out because of his back  problem.
Due to the fitness issues faced by Emad and Sohaib,  Inzamam said that batsmen, Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Amin had  been included in Pakistans T20 squad.
"The rest of the players are the same, who are presently  representing Pakistan in the ongoing one-day series," he  ...

Pakistan all-rounder Emad Wasim ruled out of New Zealand T20s

The prestigious MCC World Cricket  Committee today strongly urged the BCCI to support cricket's  inclusion in the Olympics.
The World Cricket committee, comprising legends such as  Ricky Ponting, Kumar Sangakkara along with current Bangladesh  superstar Shakib Al Hasan believe that the richest cricket  board should not act as a barrier in getting the sport  inducted in the quadrennial extravaganza.
"The game's application to become an Olympic sport is  gathering momentum and that the only remaining barrier is  India's reluctance to proceed," an MCC release stated.
"The committee has long been a supporter of Twenty20  cricket being included in the Olympic Games, believing it the  single biggest step the game could take to unlock worldwide  government funding and aid its global development," it further  stated.
The MCC wants cricket to be included in the Paris edition  of 2024 and if not then at least in the 2028 Los Angeles  edition.
"For men's and women's cricket to thrive in future  .

BCCI should support cricket in Olympics: MCC Committee

Delhi Dashers took an early 2-1  lead against North Eastern Warriors in the battle for a  semifinal spot as the Hyderabad-leg of the third Premier  Badminton League got off to an exciting start, here today.
Tian Houwei led the Delhi charge by staging a brilliant  recovery in his men's singles duel against Tzu Wei Wang before  winning 10-15, 15-8, 11-15.
The Chinese, ranked 22 in the world, was down 2-8 in the  final game but bounced back to clinch it 15-11 and upset the  World No11.
Wang's defeat was a big blow for the Warriors as it was  their Trump match which meant they ended up with a negative  point. Interestingly, it was their first Trump loss of the  season, having won all four earlier.
Michelle Li and Shin Baek Cheol had provided a bright  start to the Warriors winning their mixed doubles duel against  the Delhi pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Vladimir Ivanov in  straight games 15-13, 15-11.
But Wing Ki Wong Vincent helped Delhi level the scores as  he won the day's first men's ..

Advantage Delhi in semifinal battle

Himachal chief minister Jai Ram  Thakur today announced a cash prize of Rs five lakh for skier  Anchal Thakur for winning a bronze medal at World Skiing  Competition.
Aanchal, who hails from Burna village in Manali, created  as she gave India its first ever international medal in skiing  while competing at "Alpine Ejder 3200 Cup, organised by the  Federation Internationale de Ski (FIS) in Turkey.
She clinched the medal in the slalom race category.
The Chief Minister said the government was coming up with  a plan for systematic development of sports infrastructure.

HP CM announces cash award of Rs 5 lakh for Anchal Thakur

BCCI should support cricket for Olympics: MCC Committee

Bhutanese striker Chencho Gyeltshen  struck twice within a space of seven minutes as Minerva Punjab  beat Mohun Bagan 2-1 in an I-League encounter to grab the pole  position from East Bengal.
Chencho, known as 'Bhutan's Ronaldo' scored in the 23rd  and 30th minute as new chief coach Shankarlal Chakraborty's  honeymoon period was over within his second match.
Kingsley Eze pulled one back for Bagan at the Salt Lake  Stadium but that surely wasn't enough.
Minerva are now on top of the points tally with 19 from 8  matches while East Bengal are on 18 points having played 9  games.
Mohun Bagan's dreams of winning the league are slowly  fading away as they are placed fifth with 13 points from 9  games.
Bagan coach handed Beingaichho Beikhokhei his first start  in I-League while goalkeeper Shilton Paul had to sit out this  match with an injury, who was replaced by Shibinraj Kunniyil.
Minerva Punjab, on the other hand, went for an extra man  in defence as Deepak Devrani earned his place in the 

Minerva on top of I-League table after 2-1 win over Bagan

Haryana boy Deepak Malik scored  an unbeaten 179 off 103 balls as India beat Sri Lanka by six  wickets in their opening match of the ODI Blind Cricket World  Cup in the UAE today.
India won the toss and elected to field. Sri Lanka had  set the target of 358 with the loss of eight wickets in 40  overs.
For Sri Lanka, Suranga Sampath scored 68 runs and K A  Silva 64. At the end of 15 overs, Sri Lanka were going along  nicely and had reached 121 for the loss of one wicket.
India began well in the chase thanks to Malik.
He batted through the innings and the team chased the  target in 32 overs with the loss of four wickets. Skipper Ajay  Reddy scored nine runs and Prakash Jayaramiah scored 76. Malik  was named Man of the Match.

Deepal Malik fires India to big win in Blind Cricket WC opener

Sharmeen Mushtaq Nizami, a 40-  year-old doctor and a mother of two, is set to become a first  female from Kashmir to compete in Frozen Rush 2, countrys  only snow auto-cross.
The two-day rally, beginning here on January 20, would be  held in the famous ski-resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir.
Sharmeen is excited to finally see her dream come true.
"I am finally going to race. It is going to be a long  time dream coming true and the feeling still needs to sink in.  I have been driving since past 20 years, just getting behind  the wheel gives me thrills and racing for the first time ever  is much more exciting, she said.
Sharmeen said when Kashmir Off Road  valleys only  off-road adventure and motor-sport outfit - introduced motor-  sporting activities in the region, she was eager to compete.
"Deep down I felt, yes, this is what I have been wanting  to do. I have been following their activities closely since  many of my relatives are already a part of their club. So now,  here I am, ...

Breaking the barriers: Sharmeen to be 1st Kashmiri woman to

The strongest emotion he had felt  in the company of his father Vijay, also a cricketer who  played for nearly a decade for India, was fear, said ex-Test  player Sanjay Manjrekar at the launch of his autobiography  "Imperfect" here today.
"I had no plan of including him in my book at first.  But then I decided to include all those who had made an impact  on me. The strongest emotion I felt when near him was fear  which was common (between father and son) in those days," said  Manjrekar through a unique manner of interviewing himself in a  video.
"The way he (late Vijay Manjrekar) handled me had a  lot to do about my success as a cricketer. I'm happy that both  my children have nothing to do with cricket and I had allowed  them to chart their own careers," said the  cricketer-turned-commentator.
Sanjay, who played 37 Tests after making his debut in  the Delhi Test against the West Indies under the captaincy of  Dilip Vengsarkar in 1987, scored 2,043 runs with a career-best  218 against 

Fear was my strongest emotion with my father: Manjrekar

Rohan Bopanna began his partnership  with Edouard Roger-Vasselin with consecutive straight sets win  in a single day to reach the semifinals of the Sydney  International, here today.
Bopanna and Roger-Vasselin resumed their first match  against Ivan Dodig and Fernando Verdasco, leading 4-3 with a  break up, and went on to beat them 6-4 6-4 in 68 minutes.
In the gruelling quarterfinals, the fourth seeds  vanquished Fabrice Martin and Nicholas Monroe 7-6(5) 7-6(5)  after battling hard for one hour and 34 minutes.
They will next take on top seeded pair of Lukasz Kubot  and Marcelo Melo.
Bopanna had played with Pablo Cuevas in the previous  season. In the season-opening Tata Open Maharashtra, the tall  Coorgi paired with Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan but failed to defend  their title.
They lost in the quarter-finals to French team of Gilles  Simon and Pierre-Hugues Herbert.

Bopanna and Roger-Vasselin reach semis with two wins in a row

Actor R Madhavan today won the  Day 1 qualification of the Mumbai leg of the MercedesTrophy  2018 golf meet.
Madhavan carded a Nett. Score of 69.6 to emerge  victorious on the opening day of the Mumbai qualifications  played at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club here, said a media  release.
The 47-year-old actor will now compete at the national  finals of the tournament to be played at the Oxford Golf  Resort in Pune from April 4-6, it said.
The best Gross Winner of the day was Rohan Nigam with  an excellent round of 78.
Prominent winners included Arjun Nowhar, who won the  Ballantine's Long Drive Challenge with a mammoth drive of 287  yards. Chitresh Vaspate won the Mercedes-Benz Closest to Pin  contest by landing the ball at 3ft from the pin, it said.
In the Mercedes-Benz Closest to Pin in Two Shots,  Vishesh Sahajwala landed the ball at 4 inches from the pin to  emerge victorious.
Surjit Dugal, who landed the ball at 1 inch from the  line, won the Mercedes-Benz Straightest Drive ...

Madhavan qualifies for national finals of Merc golf tournament

An all-round Jharkhand trounced  Tripura by 24 runs in a East Zone match of the Syed Mushtaq  Ali T20 Trophy here today.
Opener Virat Singh (43 off 31) and Ishank Jaggi (33 off  36) helped Jharkhand reach 163 for six in 20 overs.
Tripura began the chase well through Smit Patel (49 off  37) and Udiyan Bose (29 off 24) before Jharkhand bowlers  bounced back to limit the opposition to 139 for nine.
Captain Varun Aaron, Shahbaz Nadeem and Kaushal Singh  took two wickets each for the home team.
In the other East Zone match, Odisha beat Assam by 51  runs.
Odisha posted a modest 128 for nine but even that proved  to be too much for Assam, who were shot out for 77 in 17.2  overs.
The bowling stars for Odisha were Abhishek Raut (3/14)  and Prayash Singh (3/6).

Jharkhand beat Tripura in Syed Mushtaq Ali meet

Jharkhand beat Tripura in Syen Mushtaq Ali meet

Rahul Dravid's elder son Samit  has attracted attention by scoring a century in the Karnataka  State Cricket Association's (KSCA) BTR Cup Under-14 Inter-  School tournament.
Samit scored 150 for Mallya Aditi International School  who beat Vivekananda School by a whopping 412 runs.
Another match-winning knock was played by son of former  India spinner Sunil Joshi. Aryan smashed 154 and with Samit  took their team to 500 for five in 50 overs. The opposition  was bundled out for a paltry 88.
Samit had earlier grabbed eyeballs when he struck a 125  in U-14 school cricket two years ago.

Dravid's son grabs eyeballs with hundred in school cricket

In a bid to give domestic players  more chance to showcase their skills to potential bidders, the  BCCI has decided to revert to the inter-state knock-out  format for the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
During the previous edition, the knock-out leg saw five  zones -- North, South, East, West and Central compete on a  round robin basis. It meant that zonal teams had partial  representation of players from each state.
"Yes, the BCCI has decided that once again the top two  teams from each of the five zones will qualify for the knock-  out stage unlike the last time. In all, 10 teams will be  playing in the knock-outs and will be divided into two groups  of five teams each. The knock-out stage will be held in  Kolkata from January 21-27," a senior BCCI official told PTI  today.
The top two teams from each group will then qualify for  the semi-finals. The matches are expected to be held at the  Eden Gardens and JU (Salt Lake) ground.
It has been learnt that the decision was taken so ...

IPL auction in mind, Mushtaq T20 reverts to old format

Wangamba Kshetrimayum and Heramani  Singh Lisham struck five goals each as Manipur Hockey hammered  Hockey Gujarat 28-1 on the fourth day of the Senior Men  National Championship 2018 (B Division), here.
The Manipur players scored eight goals each in the first  two quarters and backed them up with six goals each in the  last two quarters. Interestingly, only three goals out of the  29 goals scored in the match came through a penalty corner,  while all the 26 other goals were field goals.
The only goal for Hockey Gujarat was scored by Rohit  Thakor in the 55th minute.
Goals for Manipur Hockey were scored by captain
Kshetrimayum (12', 21', 45', 46', 54'), Lisham (32', 33',  34', 35', 60'), Ibungo Singh Konjengbam (4', 8', 42'), Kiren  Kumar Thokchom (15', 18', 22'), Bhakar Ningombam (17', 26',  28'), Debeshor Konjengbam (22', 29', 49'), Papunao Haobam (7',  8'), Suresh Singh Shurenshangbam (2'), Mantosh Meitei Laishram  (3'), Dollar Kshetrimayum (58') and Suras Singh Wahengbam  ...

Manipur Hockey trounce Hockey Gujarat 28-1

- Novak Djokovic made a  resounding return on Wednesday after six months out with an  elbow injury, declaring he felt "great" after beating world  number five Dominic Thiem 6-1, 6-4 at the Kooyong Classic.
The Serbian 12-time Grand Slam winner was in good form,  and full of optimism, after his first competitive outing since  losing a Wimbledon quarter-final to Tomas Berdych last July.
"I feel great, I was eager to get onto the court," he  said after playing with a flesh-coloured sleeve on his right  arm.
"I had a great opponent, it was a test for me to see  where I am, how the work we did pays off on court. It worked  pretty well."
The former world number one, who will be chasing a record  seventh Australian Open crown next week, had pulled out of a  warm-up tournament in Abu Dhabi, raising concerns over whether  he would be fit enough to play at Melbourne Park.
"There was a doubt, especially after I pulled out of the  first week of the year," he admitted.
"I personally didn't know ...

Djokovic 'very happy' with winning start to the year

Simona Halep and Caroline  Wozniacki spearhead the charge to succeed Serena Williams at  an Australian Open left wide open by the withdrawal of the  defending champion and new mum.
A pregnant Williams sealed her 23rd Grand Slam singles  title and seventh Melbourne Park crown a year ago, but last  week announced she wouldn't defend her title, saying she was  "super close" but not quite ready to compete after giving  birth in September.
With the 36-year-old having to wait to equal Margaret  Court's all-time record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles, the  tournament is there for the taking by a host of players, led  by world number one Halep, second-ranked Wozniacki and  fourth-ranked Elina Svitolina.
Last year there were two first-time major-winners while  Serena was on maternity leave -- Jelena Ostapenko at the  French Open and Sloane Stephens at the US Open.
But their chances in Melbourne look slim: Stephens hasn't  won a match on tour since her Flushing Meadows triumph, and  Ostapenko ..

Halep, Wozniacki lead race to seize Serena's Aussie crown

17-year-old Mumbai school girl  Jemimah Rodrigues became one of the youngest to be selected in  the Indian women cricket team that will travel to South Africa  for a three-match away ODI series next month.
Mithali Raj had made her debut as a 16-year-old.
Mithali was named captain and Harmanpreet Kaur her deputy  as the BCCI announced a 16-member squad for the series  beginning February 5.
The ODI series will be followed by a five-match T20I  series and the squad for it will be named later.
India Women's ODI squad: Mithali Raj (Captain),  Harmanpreet Kaur (vice-captain), Sushma Verma (wicket-keeper),  Ekta Bisht, Smriti Mandhana, Poonam Yadav, Punam Raut,  Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Jemimah Rodrigues, Jhulan Goswami, Deepti  Sharma, Shikha Pandey, Mona Meshram, Pooja Vastrakar, Veda  Krishnamurthy, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper).

Mithali to lead, teenager Jemimah in Indian team to SA

FC Goa would look to get their  campaign back on track after the shock loss to strugglers  NorthEast United when they host Jamshedpur FC in the Indian  Super League (ISL) here tomorrow.
It will be a battle of the opposites as the team that has  scored the most number of goals hosts the team that has  conceded the least.
FC Goa scored at a rate of 2.5 goals per match, scoring  20 in eight games so far. But Jamshedpur have let in just four  goals in as many matches, and as the visiting head coach Steve  Coppell put it, it looks like offence versus defence on paper.
"Sounds like a good contest - test of our defence against  what has been the most fluid attacking unit until now. They  score goals freely as they've shown against a number of sides  and it is a challenge to do our best to stop them and hurt  them.
"We've certainly not come (here) to only keep them out -  but also try to expose any weaknesses they might have at the  back," said the former Manchester United player.
It may seem 

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