Star midfielder and Olympic bronze medal winning captain Manpreet Singh will lead a 20-member strong Indian hockey team in the double-leg FIH Pro League ties against South Africa and France to be held between February 8 to 13. Manpreet will be assisted by ace drag flicker Harmanpreet Singh.
Young drag flicker Jugraj Singh and striker Abhishek are the two new faces in the squad. Jugraj, who is from Attari, came into the senior national camp for the very first time this time after he impressed the national selectors during the first Hockey India Senior Men Inter Department National Championship, where he turned up for Services Sports Control Board.
Lakshya, Malvika to lead India in Asia meet
In the absence of senior players including PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth, India Open champion Lakshya Sen and Syed Modi International finalist Malvika Bansod will lead the Indian men’s and women’s teams in the Badminton Asia Team Championships to be played at Shah Alam, Malaysia from February 15-20. With many players recovering from Covid-19 or injuries, the Badminton Association of India continued to give importance to performances in the two All-India Ranking tournaments played in Chennai and Hyderabad last month in selecting players based on aggregate ranking points scored in the two events. “We have been considering domestic tournaments for selection for a while now and selecting players in the top-25 world ranking directly. But with most senior players recovering from Covid and injury, it’s an opportunity for us to give the bench strength opportunities to make their mark in the tournament,” BAI secretary Ajay Singhania said.
Anand to mentor chess team for Asian Games
With eight months left for the Asian Games 2022 to start at Hangzhou, China on September10, the All India Chess Federation (AICF) is hopeful of a rich medal haul from their men’s and women’s team when the chess discipline returns to the Asian Games fold after 12 years. “Eyeing the four gold medals at stake in the games, legendary Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand took a different role and will mentor the team and first session with him and players will kick start this week,” stated an official release. Aiming to make a big difference after 2010 Guangzhou Games, where India only got two bronze medals, AICF started the preparations well in advance by selecting ten probables each for the men’s and women’s team. The team has been selected on the basis of their International Rating.
Indian boxer Sarjubala turns professional
Decorated Indian woman boxer and Olympian Sarjubala Devi has decided to enter the professional arena and has signed a deal with leading Indian boxing promoter Mujtaba Kamal and Grassroot Boxing Promotions and Management in Imphal. The 28-year-old Manipuri, a silver medalist at the 2014 Worlds in Korea, will be making her professional boxing debut on February 26 in Dubai. Sarjubala is also a four-time national champion, has represented India in many international tournaments and has won medals in almost all competitions she has participated in.
Lankan request to BCCI
Sri Lanka’s upcoming tour of India is likely to see a change in itinerary. The tour which was supposed to start with the two-Test series followed by a three-match T20I series could be played the other way around. “Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has requested BCCI to play the T20I series first instead of the Test matches. The Sri Lankan team will be playing a T20I series against Australia before coming to India. It will be convenient for them to send a team which will be already in a bubble,” a top BCCI official said. If BCCI accepts the request, then it will give them some more time to take a call on the venues for the Tests, given the Covid-19 situation in the country. As of now, the T20Is are slated to be played in Mohali, Dharamshala and Lucknow while Bengaluru and Mohali are supposed to host the two Tests.
