FOOTBALL
Namdhari FC holds Aizawl FC after late equaliser
Aizawl FC was held to a 1-1 draw by Namdhari FC in their I-League match on Monday.
With an all-Indian starting line-up, Aizawl took the lead in the 40th minute thanks to 21-year-old R Ramdinthara’s third league goal of the season.
Namdhari left it late to equalise, doing so in the 85th minute courtesy of its Spanish striker Ivan Garrido scoring for the second successive match.
With the draw, Aizawl moved up to the eighth spot in the table with 25 points from 21 matches. Namdhari, on the other hand, remained in 11th spot with 24 points from 23 games.
Aizawl will now travel to Vasco da Gama to face Churchill Brothers on April 5, while Namdhari have a 12-day gap until it takes on Real Kashmir FC in Srinagar on April 13 to end its first-ever I-League campaign.
– PTI
BADMINTON
KBSA introduces scholarship scheme for young shuttlers
The Kerala Badminton (Shuttle) Association has introduced a scholarship scheme for the singles winners and runners-up of its State championships in the under-13, 15, 17 and under-19 age groups.
Each player will receive an annual amount of Rs 24,000 which will be paid on a monthly basis as long as they are State champions in singles events in the above age groups.
This was decided at the KBSA executive committee meeting held in Kochi on Saturday.
“We are planning to start the scholarship in doubles too in future,” said R. Rakesh Sekhar, the KBSA secretary, on Monday.
Eligible players for KBSA’s scholarship scheme (Rs 24,000 per year, 2023-24)
Nandan B. Nair (Ekm), Sreeswar Shijo (Idk), Shivani Sivakumar (Alp), Shreya Maria Mathew (Ktk), Kiran Noguchi (Ekm), Hamdal Fikham (Koz), Hitha Maria Jose (Ekm), Mainu Sara Vinod (Ekm), P.G. Alakananda (Ekm), Aparna Sajeev (Tsr), Bjorn Jaison (Ekm), Dharmik Sreekumar (Ekm), S.M. Aman Suresh (Tvm), S. Abhishek (Ekm), Andrea Sarah Kurien (Ekm), Farza Nazrin (Tvm)
ZONAL TRAINING CENTRES
The KBSA has also decided to run three zonal training centres, at Ernakulam, Karunagapally (Kollam) and Ottapalam (Palakkad) where promising players will be offered long-term coaching either at ‘no cost’ or on subsidised rates.
– Stan Rayan
EQUASTRIAN
National Eventing Championship: Sthavi Asthana crowned champion in individual category
Sthavi Asthana was crowned champion in the individual category at the National Eventing Championship that concluded here on Monday.
It is his second successive podium finish in the two-legged Nationals, having secured a third-place finish in the opening leg.
Ashish Malik took the second spot before his joy was doubled after earning a podium finish in the team event, finishing third.
Asthana copped four penalty points in the Jumps section, as the error was committed on obstacle number 10A. He also conceded four penalty points in Show Jumping but did not cop any time penalty before excelling in the Dressage and Cross Country section, recording 36.9 points.
On the other hand, Malik copped two penalty points (Time) but came out clean in jumps. He finished Dressage and Cross Country with 38.9 points.
Asthana and Malik were joined by Raju Singh (42.5) on the podium after he secured the third position. Prince Sharma (56.4) finished fourth.
However, Prince earned relief in winning the team championship alongside Vimal Kumar, Pradeep Kumar and K Mahesh. Competing as team RVC C and College, the quartet finished the competition with 198.6 points.
The winners were much ahead of the second-placed team comprising Ankit Tyagi, HS Tomar, Saurabh Kumar and Sachin Chandel, also from the RVC C and College team. They finished with 243.6 points.
The third place was grabbed by the Team ASC Centre North, which possessed Sandeep, Narayan Singh, Ashish Malik and Mahendra Singh, logging 244.9 points.
– PTI