India File

In the New Zealand international championships being played at Wellington simultaneously, Sachin Ratti and Manjusha Kanwar stormed into the finals of the men8217;s and women8217;s singles respectively.

Ratti upset second seed, New Zealand8217;s Geoff Bellingham 12-15 15-8 15-0, while Kanwar recorded a 11-0 9-11 11-2 victory over local Nicole Gordon.Abhinn Shyam Gupta lost to Rio Suryana 15-7 13-15 15-11 in a 95-minute encounter. BR Meenakshi was routed by Rhona Robertson of New Zealand 4-11 0-11.

Chowdhry wins

MUMBAI: Anant Chowdhry won bronze in the 115 kg category at the 4th Asian Sumo Championships at Osaka, Japan from September 4-6. Chowdhury won against wrestlers from Pakistan and Thailand in the repecharge after losing to a strong Sumotori from Japan. This was Anant8217;s second bronze in the event; he had won third place in the 2nd ASC in 1997.

BCCI explains

MUMBAI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India BCCI today absolved itself of any blame over the controversy of Mithun Minhas attending the ongoing camp for the Indian A team in Delhi. Chairman of selectors Ajit Wadekar said that the ad-hoc selection committee in Singapore had discussed possible names for the US tour, but it was decided that the announcement would be made in India after taking into confidence the other four selectors.

Wadekar also said that it must have been a communication gap that made Minhas attend the ongoing prepatory camp in Delhi. Wadekar wondered why Minhas landed at the camp when there was no official communication from the Board.

Natl Sub-junior TT

KOCHI: The National sub-junior table tennis championship will be held at Kozhikode from December 2-8. About 350 players would participate in the week-long tourney. Meanwhile, the Asian Veterans TT Championship, to be held in Goa next week, has been cancelled.

Mavlankar shooting

AHMEDABAD: The 9th Ganesh V Mavlankar National shooting championship will be held at Ahmedabad Military and Rifle Training Association club here from October 21. Competition will be for rifle and revolver and pistol. The competition will be held according to newly introduced international rules.

Hyderabad win

Hyderabad: Hosts and last year8217;s joint winners Hyderabad registered a 69-run victory over Vidarbha in the four-team Group-D preliminary league encounter in the Moin-Ud-Dowla Gold Cup invitation cricket tournament today. Hyderabad XI led by deposed Indian skipper Mohd Azharuddin scored a paltry 151. In reply, Vidarbha were bundled out for 82. An all-round performace by Noel David 40 amp; 3-12 was instrumental in the win.

ENS amp;Agencies