Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Former Ferrari driver and Formula One ace Kimi Raikkonen has blasted the drivers' championship as boring and riddled with politics.
The Formula One season starts in Australia on March 17 with new regulations, changed lineups, a trio of young rookies fresh from Formula Two and the comeback of Poland's Robert Kubica.
Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi clinched their third ATP Challenger doubles title of the season after defeating Jarkko Nieminen and Henri Kontinen 6-2, 7-6 in the final of the Helsinki event in Finland.
Germany's Nico Rosberg will race for Mercedes next season, the team that this year won the Formula One championship as Brawn said on Monday. Rosberg has spent the last four years competing for Williams. Yet to win a race in 70 starts, the 24-year-old son of Finland's 1982 champion Keke finished seventh overall this season. His best finish is second place in Singapore in 2008.
Williams' Nico Rosberg dominated Formula One's first day of practice at the Australian Grand Prix on Friday while McLaren's world champion Lewis Hamilton languished near the bottom of the timesheets. Germany's Rosberg, son of Finland's 1982 champion Keke, lapped quickest in both of the afternoon sessions at a sunny Albert Park while Hamilton was 18th of the 20 drivers in the second.
Drug major Wockhardt has challenged the US patent of Stalevo, a new generation combination drug for the treatment of Parkinson's disease, originated by Finland-based Orion Corporation and marketed by Novartis.
A dogged Germany, late-scoring Denmark, stylish Serbia and dramatic Italy all booked their places in the World Cup finals on the penultimate night of European qualifying on Saturday.
France believe the seeding system is unfair for the World Cup playoffs in November and plan to ask football's ruling body FIFA to review it ahead of next week's draw.
Strenuous exercise for just half an hour a day can reduce a person's risk of dying from cancer, says a new study.
Kimi Raikkonen will be rallying in Finland and championship leader Jenson Button competing in a triathlon this weekend while their Formula One teams shut up shop for two weeks.
Manavaditya Rathore, son of former Olympic Silver medalist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, won the gold medal at 8th International Junior Shotgun Cup in Finland, on Sunday.
Sharad Kumar smashes continental record for gold in men's high jump
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday.
There will be three-tiered security arrangements in view of PM's visit.
Seven times world champion Michael Schumacher will start in 14th place after replacing his engine.
We can no longer have massive trade deficits and job losses, the US President said.
Citec Engineering India, which employs half of Citec's global workforce, is planning to increase its headcount in India from 255 to over 350 by the end of this year, said Martin Strand, CEO, Citec. "We hope to become a significant player in India in the engineering services for power, oil and gas industry, considering the development in the sector. We target to double our Indian business within two years," he said.
India's Saina Nehwal moved to the second round of the women's singles in the Yonex Korea Super Series 2009 after Charmaine Reid of Canada gave her a walkover in the opener in Seoul on Tuesday.
Marcus Rashford's penalty and a deflected strike from Mason Mount helped England come from a goal down to overcome top-ranked Belgium 2-1 at Wembley on Sunday and climb above them in their UEFA Nations League group.
Former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis crashed out of the Brisbane International on Monday with a first round loss to Finland's Jarkko Nieminen. Baghdatis, who developed a cult following in Australia during his fairytale run to the 2006 Australian Open final, squandered an early lead to lose 5-7, 6-1, 6-4.
The Finland-based drug major Orion Corporation has filed a lawsuit in the United States against domestic drug major Wockhardt for challenging the patents on its brand Stalevo, used for the treatment of Parkinson's disease.
Sofia Goggia carved up the Jeongseon slope 'like a Samurai' to win the women's downhill on Wednesday and leave American Lindsey Vonn with a bronze medal in her final run in the marquee event of Olympic Alpine skiing.
Thirty-two countries, ranging from Finland and Sweden to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Macedonia and Kazakhstan, have declared interest in hosting matches at Euro 2020 which will be staged across the continent.
IMAGES from the Euro 2020 qualifiers
Roger Federer stuttered into the quarter-finals In Basel after a tough 7-6, 7-6 second round win over Jarkko Nieminen.
Sunday's British Formula One Grand Prix was stopped on the opening lap after Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen speared heavily into the barriers.
Veteran Indian star Mahesh Bhupathi and Julian Knowle defeated Leonardo Mayer and Alberto Ramos to move into the second round of the men's doubles at Wimbledon on Wednesday. The eighth seeded Indo-Austrian pair scored a 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-2 win.
Serbia's Novak Djokovic missed his chance to leapfrog Roger Federer into second place on the world rankings when he was beaten 6-4, 7-6 by Finland's Jarkko Nieminen in the semi-finals of the Sydney International on Friday. Last year's Australian Open winner, ranked third in the world behind Rafael Nadal and Federer, would have moved to a career-high second by reaching the final in Sydney but was outplayed by Nieminen, ranked 37 places below him at 40.
Michael Ballack will miss Germany's World Cup qualifiers against Liechtenstein and Finland through injury.
The announcement comes two days ahead of the proposed historic launch of the ISRO's 100th satellite along with 30 others in a single mission from Sriharikota.
Abhinav Bindra won the gold medal in men's 10 metre air rifle event of the shooting competition at Beijing Olympics on Monday morning. The medal is India's first individual gold, and the first since 1980, when the hockey team emerged triumphant in Moscow.
Printer manufacturer TVS Electronics has sold off its contract manufacturing services business at Tumkur for Rs 41.12 crore (Rs 411.02 million) to Incap Contract Manufacturing Services, a 100 per cent subsidiary of Finland based Incap Corporation.
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton took pole position for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Saturday after World champion Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari suffered an early breakdown. The 23-year-old pipped Poland's Robert Kubica to line up a perfect start to his second season in Formula One. Finland's Heikki Kovalainen, in the second McLaren, qualified in third place with Ferrari's Brazilian Felipe Massa alongside on the second row.
Indian tennis ace Leander Paes and his German partner Andre Begemann squandered as many as five match points in the second set to eventually lose the summit clash against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Henri Kontinen in a three-setter at the ATP Winston-Salem Open.
A round-up of the World Cup qualifying matches played on Friday.
INSAG is a wing of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Third seed Jarkko Nieminen of Finland will take on Frenchman Michael Llodra in the final of the Adelaide International after both came through their semi-finals in straight sets on Saturday.
Finland's Nokia on Wednesday announced opening its first satellite design studio, in Bangalore, signalling the growing importance the world's biggest mobile handset maker attaches to India.
The International Olympic Committee on Thursday announced that Nita Ambani, has been elected as an individual member of the IOC, and will become India's first woman to join the prestigious body.
