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Sports Shorts: Amitabh Bachchan to welcome hockey team on KBC

Last updated on: September 25, 2018 19:51 IST

Hockey team

IMAGE: Coach Harendra Singh with the Indian team at the unveiling of the new hockey outfits in Mumbai, September 7, 2018. Photograph: Rajesh Karkera/Rediff.com

Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan is all set to welcome the Indian Hockey team on his quiz show titled 'Kaun Banega Crorepati.

The actor shared a picture with the players on his Twitter handle, writing, "Honouring the Indian Hockey Team on KBC Karmveer episode .. their dedication, their effort for the country is beyond compare."

 

Hockey team captain PR Sreejesh, Arjuna Awardee Manpreet Singh, along with some other players will be seen on KBC soon. Treating his fans, Big B also shared some other pictures from the episode.

The Hockey Men's World Cup 2018 will be held in Odisha this year. Chief minister Naveen Patnaik recently announced that his government will be collaborating with music director AR Rahman and evergreen lyricist Gulzar for the tournament's title song.

He made the announcement on his twitter handle and also stated that Rahman would perform live in the opening ceremony of the prestigious tournament which is going to be held in Odisha, this year.

The Hockey World Cup is slated to take place in Bhubaneswar, Odisha from November 28 to December 16. Sixteen teams, along with host India, will compete for the trophy.

Ajay Jayaram fails to enter main draw of Korea Open

Ajay Jayaram failed to enter the main draw as Indian shuttlers struggled in the qualification stages of the $ 600,000 Korea Open World Tour Super 500 tournament Seoul.

Jayaram lost to China's Zhao Junpeng 26-24, 21-18 in the men's singles qualifiers.

Young Vaidehi Choudhari went down without a fight to Kim Ga Eun of Korea 21-8, 21-8, while Mugdha Agrey was knocked out by former world number one Chinese LI Xuerui 21-8, 21-8, in the women's singles.

Saina Nehwal and Sameer Verma will look to put their best foot forward Wednesday when they lead the Indian challenge in the main draw.

Shubhankar aims to extend merit lead at Taiwan Masters

Rising star Shubhankar Sharma of India will resume his chase for the coveted Asian Tour Order of Merit crown when he tees off for the $ 850,000 Mercuries Taiwan Masters.

Sharma, who will be receiving the prestigious Arjuna Award from the President of India in Delhi, is determined to put up a fine performance this week to extend his lead on the Asian Tour Habitat for Humanity Standings.

The 22-year-old Sharma will spearhead the elite 123-man field from 23 countries at the fabled Taiwan Golf and Country Club, the traditional home of the Mercuries Taiwan Masters which is celebrating its centennial year in 2018 as the oldest club in the country.

South African Justin Harding, highest-ranked player in 97th place on the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR), will also feature in the storied event alongside Korea's Sanghyun Park and Scott Vincent of Zimbabwe, all placed inside the top-10 on the Habitat for Humanity Standings.

The Mercuries Taiwan Masters, which is celebrating its 32nd edition this week, is the longest-running full-field event on the Asian Tour. Inaugurated in 1987, the event has been held annually on the region's premier Tour since 2004.

Giovinazzi joins Raikkonen at Sauber for 2019

Italian Antonio Giovinazzi will race for Sauber next season in a new lineup with former world champion Kimi Raikkonen, the Swiss-based Formula One team said on Tuesday.

Giovinazzi, who had been the reserve driver, made two race starts last year as a replacement for the injured Pascal Wehrlein, who was dropped at the end of that season.

The 24-year-old's confirmation means Sweden's Marcus Ericsson loses his race seat, although he will stay on as reserve and 'brand ambassador'.

"I am delighted to be joining the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team. This is a dream come true, and it is a great pleasure to have the chance to race for this team," said Giovinazzi.

"As an Italian, it is a huge honour for me to represent a brand as iconic and successful as Alfa Romeo in our sport...I am very motivated and cannot wait to start working towards achieving great results together."

Giovinazzi will be the first Italian driver to start a Formula One season since 2011, when Jarno Trulli and Vitantonio Liuzzi lined up respectively for the now-defunct Caterham and HRT teams.

Raikkonen's arrival was announced this month in what was seen as a straight swap with 20-year-old Monegasque rookie Charles Leclerc, who took the 38-year-old Finn's place at Ferrari.

However Sauber said that Giovinazzi, who is also a Ferrari-backed driver, was a direct replacement for Leclerc rather than Ericsson.

Sauber are sponsored by Alfa Romeo but have close ties with Ferrari, using the Italian sportscar manufacturer's engines, and have a long tradition of taking the Italian team's young drivers.

Ericsson, 28, has limited options after failing to achieve much in four seasons with Sauber after making his debut with Caterham in 2014.

The Swede, who has enjoyed close ties with Sauber's publicity-shy owners, failed to score a point between September 2015 and April 2018 with a total haul of 15 points from 91 starts. Leclerc has scored 15 already this season.

Ericsson said in a separate team statement that he would have loved to continue "but having a driver like Kimi Räikkönen on board is a great opportunity for the whole team."

Former top-ranked sumo wrestler resigns following scandal

Former sumo wrestler Takanohana, who held the top rank of 'yokozuna', handed his resignation to the Japan Sumo Association (JSA) on Tuesday, according to local media, in the latest twist in a scandal that rocked the sport last year.

Takanohana failed to report that a wrestler he coached named Takanoiwa had been beaten by grand champion Harumafuji, who was forced to retire last November after taking responsibility for injuring the junior wrestler.

As Takanoiwa's stablemaster, Takanohana had a responsibility to report the incident but failed to do so and was subsequently dismissed earlier this year as a JSA board director.

Takanohana failed to regain his spot on the board in an election in February before being demoted to the lowest rank in the JSA’s hierarchy in March.

The 46-year-old won 22 tournaments in sumo's top division when he was an active wrestler around the turn of the century and was the 65th man to achieve the rank of yokozuna.

The resignation of one of the great sumo wrestlers completes his fall from grace and is another blow to a sport that has had been hit by a good deal of bad publicity over the last year.

In April, the JSA was forced to apologise when female medics were asked to leave a sumo ring where they were treating a local official who had collapsed.

Tradition forbids women from entering the ring on the grounds that it is sacred and their presence, considered "unclean", would pollute it.

Earlier this year, Egyptian wrestler Osunaarashi was asked to retire after being involved in a car accident while driving without a license.

The news comes two days after another yokozuna, Hakuho, won the traditional autumn Grand Sumo Tournament with a perfect 15-0 record to secure a record-extending 41st championship.

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