Naveen sets junior record

R Naveen set a national junior record in 600m race en route to his second gold.

Tamil Nadu8217;s R Naveen set a national junior record in 600m race en route to his second gold of the meet on the second day of the 25th National Inter-Zone Junior Athletics Championships here in Kochi. Naveen,who had missed the national mark on Sunday while taking 100m sprint title by just three hundredth of a second,shattered Haryana boy Puneet Chauhan8217;s 600m national record 1:24.54 as he led the field from start to finish in one minute 23.22 secs. Naveen8217;s teammate U Bharath 1:26.14 and Assam boy Santosh Bhagat 1:28.87 took silver and bronze respectively. Tamil Nadu continued to lead the points table while Maharashtra and Kerala occupied the next two spots at the end of day two.

Indore to host Davis tie

India will take on Chinese Taipei in their next Davis Cup tie in Indore as Madhya Pradesh Tennis Association MPTA has been given the hosting rights for the first time by AITA. The Asia/Oceania Group I tie will be held from January 31 to February 2 on the hard courts. All India Tennis Association AITA has decided that the Davis Cup Tie between India and Chinese Taipei will be held at Indore under and aegis of Madhya Pradesh Tennis Association, an AITA release said.

Devvarman makes main draw

Somdev Devvarman qualified for the singles main draw of the ATP Malaysian Open with a straight-sets victory over Jean-Julien Rojer. Somdev,who has risen to 98 in the ATP charts,edged past the unranked Dutch player 7-5 7-5 in the third and final qualifying round of the USD 875,500 hard court event. The Indian broke his rival,who is a world number 15 in doubles,twice in each set in a match that lasted one hour and 35 minutes. In the doubles event of the same tournament,Yuki Bhambri has been given a wild card along with local player Syed Naguib. They face a tough first round against second seeds Julien Benneteau and Nenad Zimonjic.

Sobhita Chatterjee dies

Former International shooter Sobhita Chatterjee,who reigned the national championship from 1960-66,died of old age at her residence yesterday,according to family sources. Sobhita,95,is survived by two sons. She was ailing from heart problem and last few days there was trouble in her kidneys. She breathed her last at here Lake Gardens residence at 3.25 pm yesterday, her son Amit Chatterjee,who is a senior national coach,said. Chatterjees best year was 1965 when she made a clean sweep winning gold medals in all the 13 possible events. Sobhita represented India at the 1966 World Championship in Germany and she called it quits after that.

Gabon sack Duarte

Gabon have parted ways with coach Paulo Duarte following their failure to qualify for next year8217;s World Cup,the country8217;s soccer federation FEGAFOOT said on Monday. The Portuguese,who was 18 months into a two-year contract,took over from Gernot Rohr following the 2012 African Nations Cup during which hosts Gabon were eliminated on penalties by Mali in the quarter-finals. I have told Paulo Duarte that he is no longer national coach, interim FEGAFOOT president Dieudonne Likouni Ndoumbou was quoted as saying on the federation8217;s website. We are working on his replacement. An announcement may take place in a few days, he said,adding that Duarte would remain national technical director until further notice. Gabon,who have never played at the World Cup finals,finished third in qualifying Group E behind Burkina Faso and Congo.

Shaquille buysKings stake

Shaquille O8217;Neal is joining the ownership group of the Sacramento Kings. The Kings announced that O8217;Neal has acquired a minority stake in the team under new owner Vivek Ranadive. The Kings will introduce the four-time NBA champion at a news conference on Tuesday in Sacramento. O8217;Neal tormented the Kings during the height of his career with the Los Angeles Lakers,even dubbing the franchise the Sacramento Queens. He also handed Sacramento their biggest blow by rallying the Lakers from a 3-2 deficit to win the 2002 Western Conference finals. O8217;Neal retired after the 2010-11 season and has worked as an analyst for TNT the last two seasons.