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.
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.
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.
They thrashed Azerbaijan 8-0 while England, Croatia, Belgium and the Czech Republic easily won their World Cup qualifying matches.
'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'
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).
India's latest GM is hoping to improve on his third placing at the last World championship in Goa.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
Joining the Bulgarian in the semi-finals of the World Chess Championship are England's Michael Adams, Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan and Rustam Kasimdzhanov of Uzbekistan.
Anand drew with Spaniard Francisco Pons while Kasparov lost to Teimous Radjabov of Azerbaijan in the Linares chess tournament.
Rediff.com presents a factbox Antonio Conte who will take over from Guus Hiddink after Euro 2016.
As part of efforts to boost exports to the Commonwealth of Independent States, the government is likely to unveil a Focus-CIS programme in the forthcoming Exim Policy.\n\n\n\n
Yogeshwar Dutt's London Olympics bronze medal will not be upgraded to gold after the United World Wrestling (UWW) on Tuesday made it clear that the top-place finisher in men's 60kg freestyle -- Togrul Asgarov - never tested positive for a banned substance. "Contrary to news reports, 2012 Olympic gold medalist Togrul ASGAROV (AZE) has never been in violation of UWW's anti-doping policy," the world body tweeted from its official Twitter handle.
The Indian Grandmaster lost to Viktor Bologan in the third round of the Dortmund tournament.
Grandmaster B Adhiban finished tied third at the Chess.com Isle of Man International tournament after beating the highly-regarded Michael Adams of England in the ninth and final round, in Isle of Man (UK) on Monday.
Azerbaijan Kadir Guseinov leads the boys' section in the World Juniors chess championship.
The Indian Grandmaster led the boys' field by 0.5 points after the third round in the World Junior chess championship.
The Indian GM beat Monroy Charles of France in the inaugural round of the World junior chess championship.
Uttar Pradesh accounts for the maxmium dowry deaths -- 11,800 women -- followed by Bihar at 5,992.
GM Michael Adams made it to the finals of the World Chess Championship with a 2.5-1.5 win over GM Teimour Radjabov.
England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson said his team would not find it easy against Wales and Northern Ireland in the qualifiers for the 2006 WC.\n\n
Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone on Thursday asserted that the troubled Indian Grand Prix has run out of time for a 2015 return and its organisers must settle the contractual obligations for a possible comeback in 2016.
The Credit Suisse Global Wealth Data Book 2014 published detailed data on wealth holdings of households around the world.
The Credit Suisse Global Wealth Data Book 2014 published detailed data on wealth holdings of households around the world.
The explosion hit three military vehicles and a private vehicle in central Ankara, near Turkish parliament buildings, Turkey's semiofficial Anadolu news agency reported, citing Ankara Governor Mehmet Kiliclar. The vehicles were stopped for a traffic light at the time, the military said.
With his third victory in the event, Anand came back within striking distance of the leaders. His tally of six points out of ten is only one point less than Holland's Anish Giri, Norway's Magnus Carlsen and Azerbaijan's Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, all who have seven points apiece.
World rapid champion Viswanathan Anand played out an easy draw with world No 1 Magnus Carlsen of Norway in the ninth round of the Tata Steel Masters in Wijk Aan Zee, the Netherlands. Settling for his sixth draw in nine games, Anand took his tally to five points and remains joint-sixth in the 14 players, 13-round tournament.
India had a disappointing outing at the 43rd Chess Olympiad with the men's team finishing a poor sixth and the women ending their campaign at a lowly eighth spot, in Batumi, on Friday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
India says it cannot accept a project that ignores its core concerns on sovereignty and territorial integrity.
With his third draw in five games, the reigning world rapid champion remained in joint lead on 3.5 points and now shares the lead with Anish Giri of Holland and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan.
The 16-year-old GM from Azerbaijan is the first player to beat both Kasparov and Anand with black pieces in the same year.
On what turned out to be an easy day, Anand had to stretch himself only a little as Karjakin did not attempt any complicated warfare. The result was exchanging of pieces at regular intervals and the players signed peace in an opposite coloured Bishops endgame.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
