Balraj settled for a silver after narrowly losing his 76kg freestyle bout against Russia's Batyrbek Tcakulov as the Indian grapplers returned with two medals from the Cadet World Championship which concluded in Zrenjanin, Serbia.
Eriksson said he had no problems with Beckham continuing as England captain.
Vinesh wins bronze, Pooja in line for second medal
Star India grappler Vinesh Phogat won her second consecutive gold in 53kg
P Harikrishna drew with GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan in the first game for the third place match
The Indian ace won the third game and drew the fourth, in the eight-game Mainz Rapid World Championship.
India's return to Formula One will have to wait until at least 2016, by which time a new race in Azerbaijan could also be on the calendar, commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone said on Wednesday.
Speaking exclusively to Aruneel Sadadekar/Rediff.com, the Haryana-based wrestler shed light on the latest reports of Asgarov testing positive and Sakshi Malik's bronze medal feat at the Rio Olympics.
IM Elisabeth Paehtz of Germany and GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan won the girls' and boys' title respectively at the World Junior Chess.
Grandmaster Gabriel Sargissian of Armenia won the Abu Dhabi Chess festival, finishing half a point ahead of four rivals.\n
P Harikrishna opted for a quick draw with tournament leader Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan.
Top seeded Shakhriyaz Mamedyarov strengthened his position at the top in the World Jr. chess, maintaining a ghalf point lead.
Pop star Lady Gaga sang John Lennon's Imagine sitting at a flower-covered piano as the inaugural European Games.
The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday elected Chad, Chile, Lithuania, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia to serve as non-permanent members on the Security Council for two-year terms beginning in January 2014.
Draws ruled the roost in the 8th round as players were only willing to consolidate their position in the Dubai International Chess Championship.
Commonwealth Games silver-medallist L Devendro Singh (49kg) stormed into the quarter-finals, while the experienced Manoj Kumar (64kg) entered the last-16 stage in the International Boxing Association's World Olympic Qualification tournament after notching comprehensive victories in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The England captain will not face disciplinary action after telling a newspaper he deliberately got himself booked in a World Cup qualifier against Wales.
Five-time World champion Viswanathan Anand played out an easy draw with black against local star Anish Giri but slipped to joint second spot after the sixth round of Tata Steel Chess tournament, in Wijk Aan Zee, on Saturday.
The world junior champion finished sixth following a draw with Lenier Dominguez of Cuba in the ninth and final round of the Dos Hermanas International Chess tournament.
The Liverpool midfielder fractured the fifth metatarsal in his left foot in the Premier League match against Manchester United.
On Wednesday Wayne Rooney will line up alongside Owen as World Cup qualifying Group Six leaders England tackle Azerbaijan in Newcastle.
GMs S S Ganguly and Harikrishna finished eighth and ninth respectively.
2016 F1 calendar to feature record 21-race campaign
She couldn't make the cut through qualifiers but star woman boxer M C Mary Kom's Olympic dream is not quite over yet as India has decided to seek a wildcard entry for her in the Games scheduled from August 5 this year. Mary Kom (51kg) had missed out on qualifying for the Olympics after bowing out in the second round of last month's World Championships -- the second and final qualifying tournament for women for the Games. The 33-year-old was required to make at least the semifinals to be assured of an Olympic berth in the mega-event in Astana, Kazakhstan. "She has been a phenomenal athlete and looking at her overall contribution to the sport, we have decided to request for a wildcard for her. However, her application will be among the many that the International Boxing Association (AIBA) will examine before taking a final decision," Chairman of the ad-hoc committee currently running boxing in India, Kishen Narsi, told PTI. Mary Kom, who is called 'Magnificent Mary' by AIBA, is a five-time world champion besides being a bronze-medallist from the London Olympics. The multiple-time Asian champion could not get an Olympic quota place in either of the two qualifying events for women boxers and is keeping her fingers crossed for a wildcard.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
In India the female homicide rate in 2016 was 2.8 per cent, higher than the rate in Kenya (2.6), Tanzania (2.5), Azerbaijan (1.8), Jordan (0.8) and Tajikistan (0.4).
Kasimdzhanov, playing black, easily split points with the second seed in the first game of the World chess championship final.
Top seed GM Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria drew his first game against GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov of Uzbekistan in the semi-final of the World Chess championship.
Former Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra will lead the 25-member Indian shooting contingent in the third leg of the International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup (Rifle/Pistol), to be held in Munich from May 19 to 26. The Indian team comprises of 17 shooters and eight officials. But with the Rio Games less than three months away, all eyes will be on those shooters, who are selected to represent India at the Olympics. Apart from Abhinav, other Indian shooters in the World Cup team who will also be heading to Rio include the likes of Jitu Rai, Gagan Narang, Chain Singh, Apurvi Chandela and Ayonika Paul, Gurpreet Singh, P N Prakash and Heena Sidhu.
'I think we're still the top three teams. Merc (Mercedes) and Ferrari and us. I think we're still going to be leading the pack for now, so, yeah, hopefully we're deep in that front group and have a chance to stand on that podium'
They thrashed Azerbaijan 8-0 while England, Croatia, Belgium and the Czech Republic easily won their World Cup qualifying matches.
