Page 21 - Sports

Indian-origin dy director pleads guilty of cheating Singapore Football body

An Indian-origin former deputy director at the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) has pleaded guilty to 15 cheating charges involving supplies to the sporting body through a company he owned. Another 30 similar charges will be taken into consideration for sentencing Rikram Jit Singh Randhir Singh, 43, who exploited his position to ensure that the sporting body's supply contracts were awarded to companies linked to him or his wife. The Singaporean admitted on Wednesday to dishonestly inducing FAS to disburse SGD 609,380, from which he and his wife, Asya Kirin Kames, made a profit of SGD 127,896, according to a report by The Straits Times. Their profits have been seized by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) and will be returned to FAS, the court heard. Rikram joined FAS in December 2010 as a marketing manager and rose through the ranks to become a deputy director in July 2017. FAS is responsible for developing and advancing football in Singapore and is partially

Kishore Jena and DP Manu join Neeraj Chopra in AIU Registered Testing Pool

Asian Games silver medallist javelin thrower Kishore Jena and D P Manu have joined Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra in the Registered Testing Pool (RTP) of Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), the global track and field anti-doping watchdog. Chopra, who is also the reigning world champion and Asian Games gold medallist, has been there in the RTP for some time but Jena and Manu were new additions in the list announced by AIU for the first quarter of 2024, indicating the rise of Indian javelin throwers at the world stage. Jena had finished fifth in the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, where Chopra won gold. Manu had finished sixth. Three Indians had finished in the top six of the javelin throw final in the 2023 World Athletics Championships, a record in itself. Altogether, seven Indians are currently in the RTP of the AIU. Star 3000m steeplechaser Avinash Sable, woman javelin thrower Annu Rani and long jumpers Murali Sreeshankar and Jeswin Aldrin are the other Indians in the ..

Do not recognise ad-hoc panel and ministry suspension: WFI's Sanjay Singh

Indian wrestling teetered on the edge of a deeper crisis with Sanjay Singh, President of the suspended WFI, on Monday declaring that they will soon organise the national championships and insisting that they neither recognise the suspension of their newly-elected body by Sports Ministry nor the ad-hoc panel. Three days after the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) held its polls, the ministry suspended the sports body citing several violations of rules on December 24. On the request of the government, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) then formed a three-member panel, headed by Bhupender Singh Bajwa, to manage the day-to-day affairs of the body. The other members of the committee are former hockey player M M Somaya and ex-shuttler Manjusha Kanwar. The ad-hoc panel announced that it will host the senior national championships in Jaipur from February 2-5. Sanjay, though, remained combative and said they will not co-operate with the ad-hoc panel and will organise the Nationals. "

Gymnast Dipa Karmakar returns to national championship after eight years

Olympian Dipa Karmakar will make her comeback to the tournament after a long gap of eight years as the three-day senior national championship for gymnastics begins here from Tuesday. The three-day tournament will also see Pranati Nayak, also an Olympian, as well as national gymnasts like Yogeshwar Singh, Rakesh Patra, Tapan Mohanty, Saif Tamboli and Gaurav Kumar in action at the Kalinga Stadium. The state is hosting the tournament after successfully conducting the Junior Artistic Gymnastics National Championship recently. Karmakar's coach Bishweshwar Nandi said, "Dipa is taking part in the National Championship after almost eight years. There will be Pranati Das, Pranati Nayak, Aruna Reddy and various other senior athletes taking part as well. So it's a good thing. "I couldn't come to the Junior Nationals, but I would like to see the junior athletes compete against these senior athletes. "I liked the Gymnastics Centre here, and I really wish that it produces a strong contingent in

Nepal's former cricket captain Sandeep Lamichhane convicted of raping minor

Lamichhane is one of the most famous Nepal cricketers having played in leagues all around the world. He was arrested in the same case in January 2023 and released on bail

Australian Open tennis tournament increases prize money by $6.8 million

Australian Open tennis officials have announced an increase in prize money by 10 million Australian dollars (USD 6.8 million) for the upcoming tournament which begins on Jan. 14 at Melbourne Park. Tournament director Craig Tiley said in a statement Friday that the Grand Slam tournament will now offer 86.5 Australian dollars (USD58.4 million) in total prize money. The U.S. Open announced in August that it was increasing its total prize money and player compensation to a record USD 65 million, which is the highest among the four Grand Slam tournaments. We've upped prize money for every round at the Australian Open with the major increases in qualifying and the early rounds of singles and doubles, Tiley said. At Melbourne, first-round qualifiers will receive a 20% increase to 31,250 Australian dollars (about USD 21,000). Men's and women's singles champions will receive $3.15 million Australian dollars each (about $2.15 million). The women's final, where Aryna Sabalenka is the defendi

Protesting wrestlers doing politics, are past their prime: Sanjay Singh

The Union Sports Ministry on Sunday suspended the sport's premier governing body in the country along with all its office-bearers

Gymnast Dipa Karmakar to participate in senior nationals after 8 years gap

Star gymnast Dipa Karmakar will compete at the Senior Artistic Gymnastics National Championships after a gap of eight years in Bhubaneswar next week. The prestigious event will be held here from January 2 to 4. Besides Dipa, the championship will feature the likes of Tokyo Olympian Pranati Nayak, Yogeshwar Singh, Rakesh Patra, Tapan Mohanty, Saif Tamboli, Gaurav Kumar among others. "Dipa will compete at the Senior nationals. The last time she had participated at the domestic event was in 2015. This will be here last nationals," her coach Bisweswar Nandi told PTI. The 30-year-old from Agartala, the first female gymnast from India to compete in the Olympics, was ignored for the Asian Games despite topping the trials as she didn't meet SAI's selection criteria of players needing to score equivalent to the eighth ranked gymnast in the last Asian Games. It was since then she couldn't participate in any event following her 21-month suspension due to a doping violation. Nandi, however,

Belated wisdom: Sena (UBT) mouthpiece jabs Centre over suspension of WFI

In its latest editorial, Saamana invoked the protests by wrestlers, who came out against former WFI president and BJP leader Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, accusing him of sexual harassment

I have severed ties with wrestling, says Former WFI chief Brij Bhushan

Bhushan held a press conference later in the day saying, "Sanjay Singh is not my relative. I have withdrawn myself from wrestling affairs of the country."

Chirag Sen, Anmol emerge champions in National Badminton Championships

Chirag Sen clinched the men's singles title while Anmol Kharb won the women's singles crown at the National Badminton Championships here on Sunday. The 25-year-old Chirag, who had beaten second seed Kiran George in the semifinal on Saturday, was engaged in a tough contest against fourth seeded Tharun M. While Chirag took the opening game 21-14, he lost the second 13-21 before bouncing back to win the decider 21-9. In women's singles, Anmol, who came off a win over second seed Ashmita Chaliha in the semifinal, was up against Tanvi Sharma in the final. The two had a tough fight in the opening two games as the honours were shared until then. However, in the deciding game, Tanvi struggled with an injury and was compelled to retire, handing the reigning National U-17 girls' champion Anmol a 15-21 21-17 16-8 win. In women's doubles, the third seeded pair of Priya Devi Konjengbam-Shruti Mishra beat fifth seeds Ritika Thaker and Simran Singhi 11-21 21-14 21-18 to clinch the crown. The r

Man City confirmed as world's best club in 2023 after winning fifth trophy

Pep Guardiola is happy to call Manchester City the best in the world this year, but an all-time great team? That debate must wait for years if not decades. Right now, I don't know, Guardiola said after City cruised to its first Club World Cup title by easily beating Fluminense 4-0 on Friday, lifting a fifth domestic and international trophy in 2023. Guardiola is the first coach to win the FIFA club title with three different teams and compared City's status to the great Barcelona side he led to be champion of Spain, Europe and the world in 2011. If people talk about the team 25 or 30 years later it means you're a really good team, he said. Today is nice. We have been the best team in the world. Judgment on this Man City era also must wait for the outcome of an English Premier League investigation into alleged financial wrongdoing at the club for almost a decade through 2018. A hearing is expected late next year to examine 115 charges leveled against the club for conduct during th

It's very unfortunate: AAP's Saurabh Bharadwaj on Sakshi Malik's retirement

After the election of Sanjay Singh as the new president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), Sakshi Malik on Thursday put her shoes on the table at the press conference

Who is Sanjay Singh? Newly elected chief of Wrestling Federation of India

Sanjay Singh, a close aide of Brijbhushan Sharan Singh, won the election of WFI by beating Anita Sheoran with a margin of 42-7 votes

National Sports Awards 2023: Mohammed Shami to get Arjuna Award, check list

The Sports Ministry released the final list of National Sports Awards nominations, 26 sports personalities, including Mohammed Shami to get the Arjuna Award. Check the complete list below

IPL becomes a decacorn with valuation of $10.7 bn, MI most valuable team

Among the IPL franchises, Mumbai Indians was the most valuable, with a valuation of $87 million

Odisha CM Patnaik inaugurates India's largest Sports Science Centre

Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik inaugurated India's largest state-of-the-art Sports Science Centre at the Kalinga Stadium. This centre has been established in partnership with Abhinav Bindra

Iga Swiatek equals Serena, wins WTA Player of the Year twice in a row

Iga Swiatek's second consecutive season-ending No. 1 ranking helped her collect a second consecutive WTA Player of the Year award, making her the first woman since Serena Williams to claim that honor twice in a row. Williams, who retired last year, was the WTA Player of the Year every season from 2012-15, the final four of the seven total times the American claimed that award. Swiatek went 68-11 in 2023 with a tour-leading six titles, including at the French Open in June. That was Swiatek's third championship at Roland Garros and fourth overall at a Grand Slam tournament. The 22-year-old from Poland wrapped up the season with an undefeated run at the WTA Finals in Cancun, Mexico, last month, which allowed her to overtake Aryna Sabalenka atop the rankings. Swiatek held the No. 1 spot from April 2022 until this September, before regaining it to close the year. In other WTA awards announced Monday, Zheng Qinwen of China was the Most Improved Player of the Year, Mirra Andreeva of Russi

Khelo India is famous among millions of people in country: Anurag Thakur

He added that the athletes from the campaign won medals for India at different multi-sport events like the Olympics, Asian Games and Para Asian Games

Odisha CM inaugurates India's largest Sports Science Centre in Kalinga

This Sports Science Centre features specialised labs to ensure that athletes receive care and support tailored to their unique needs, cultivating their potential and propelling them towards excellence