Warrier, Cariappa joins KKR
New Delhi: Two-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Sunday announced Sandeep Warrier and KC Cariappa as replacements for the injured pace duo of Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shivam Mavi in the upcoming edition of the league, starting March 23. Warrier, 27, plays for Kerala in Indian domestic cricket and has been a part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the past, while Cariappa has played for the Kings XI Punjab and the KKR in previous editions of the cash-rich league. Warrier has 41 wickets to his name from 40 T20 games. On the other hand, Cariappa has scalped 25 wickets from 28 T20 games. While Nagarkoti was ruled out of this year's competition following a back injury, Mavi is out of the season due to a back stress fracture.
K T Irfan qualifies for Olympics
New Delhi: National record holder KT Irfan on Sunday became the first Indian from athletics to qualify for the next year's Olympics while finishing fourth in the 20 km event of the Asian Race Walking Championships in Nomi, Japan. The 29-year-old Irfan clocked 1 hour 20 minutes and 57 seconds to better the Tokyo Olympics qualification standard of 1 hour 21 minutes. The Olympics qualification period for race walk events and marathon race has begun from January 1 this year and will run till May 31, 2020. The Olympics qualification period for all other athletics events will start from May 1 this year and will run till June 29, 2020. No other Indian from athletics has so far qualified for Tokyo Olympics.
Ind women storm into SAFF semis
Biratnagar: The Indian women's football team sealed its place in the semifinals of the SAFF Championship with a resounding 5-0 win over Sri Lanka at the Sahid Rangashala Stadium on Sunday. This result has extended India's unbeaten run in the competition's history to 21 games and secured the top spot in Group B. In the semifinals, India will take on Group A runners-up Bangladesh on Wednesday while hosts Nepal will face Sri Lanka in the other fixture. India's five goals were scored by different players on Sunday.
India to fight for 8 Olympic quota
New Delhi: A 12-member Indian shooting contingent will vie for a total of eight Tokyo Olympics quota places when it open its campaign at the ISSF Shotgun World Cup to be held in Acapulco, Mexico from March 19 to 26. There are two quota places each on offer in women's Trap, men's Trap, women's Skeet and men's Skeet disciplines. However, there are no quota places at the mixed Trap event. The Indian contingent includes former world champion Manavjit Singh Sandhu in the men's Trap and current finals world record holder in the men's Skeet Angad Vir Singh Bajwa. India have won a total of three Tokyo Olympic quotas in shooting so far. However, all of them have been in the Rifle and Pistol disciplines.
Annu re-writes national record
Patiala: Javelin thrower Annu Rani rewrote her own national record to clinch the Gold and qualify for both the Asian and World Championships on the third and penultimate day of the Federation Cup National Senior Athletics on Sunday. The 26-year-old Rani hurled the spear to a distance of 62.34m, nearly half a metre more than her earlier national record of 61.86m that she recorded in 2017. Her effort bettered the qualifying standard of 61.50m for the World Championships to be held in Doha in September-October. She also qualified for the Asian C’ships, also to be held in Doha next month, for which the qualifying standard of 58m was set by the Athletics Federation of India.
