Gill to participate in Asia Pacific Rally C’ship

Chennai

India’s Gaurav Gill will spearhead tyre giant MRF and its Czech car manufacturer partner SKODA’s two-car team with his long-time co-driver Glenn Macneall in the 2016 FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship, which opens with the International Rally of Whangarei in New Zealand (April 30 to May 1). Gill, winner of the Rally of Whangarei in 2014, will be driving the Race Torque-prepared Skoda Fabia R5. “It will be a fresh challenge for me. A new car and a new teammate who has had considerable experience in the R5, which is very different from the R4 that I was driving. The previous two seasons haven’t been good for me, but I want to put all that behind and focus on the 2016 championship,” Gill said. 

Barasat (Bengal)

Sporting Clube De Goa hold EB to goalless draw 

Sporting Clube de Goa held a lacklustre East Bengal to a goalless draw in their penultimate I-League fixture here today. Playing their first match after the unceremonious exit of Biswajit Bhattacharya, East Bengal made many changes but a goal eluded them. Third-placed East Bengal now have 25 points. Sporting Clube de Goa, on the other hand, have 19 points to be on the fourth spot. 

Tbilisi (Georgia)

14 athletes have suspensions lifted after meldonium ruling  

At least 14 athletes from Russia and Georgia had their doping suspensions lifted today, two days after officials relaxed the rules about meldonium. The drug was banned for 2016, prompting at least 172 failed tests worldwide. But the World Anti-Doping Agency changed its guidance on Wednesday, saying athletes could be cleared if only minute traces of the drug were found in their system. Many athletes who tested positive had argued they stopped taking meldonium, which is typically recommended for heart disease patients, before it was banned.

Zurich

Infantino to visit World Cup host Russia, Qatar 

Newly elected FIFA President Gianni Infantino will visit the next two hosts of the World Cup, Russia and Qatar, next week, the global soccer body said on Friday. "The FIFA President will begin his two-day stay in Russia on 19 April with a visit to Moscow's Luzhniki stadium, venue of the opening match and final of the 2018 FIFA World Cup," Zurich-based FIFA said in a statement. He leaves on April 20 for Doha, where he will meet senior board members of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy and officials of the Qatari government, it added. Swiss authorities are probing whether bribery played a role in awarding the hosting rights for the World Cup to Russia and Qatar. Both have denied wrongdoing.

SHANGHAI

Raikkonen leads way as Ferrari dominate in China 

Kimi Raikkonen set the pace ahead of Sebastian Vettel in Friday practice for the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix as the Ferrari pair dislodged the dominant Mercedes duo. Finn Raikkonen, a former winner for Ferrari in China, jumped to the top of the order with a one minute 36.896 second lap in the second session, beating German teammate Vettel by 0.109 seconds. Ferrari were tipped pre-season to challenge Mercedes’ two-year dominance and the Italian team desperately need a trouble-free weekend if they are two live up to that promise after suffering reliability issues in the season’s opening two races.  “It’s been quite a tricky day. I don’t know if it’s the conditions or the wind or something but I was sliding a lot and obviously not feeling very nice. “Once we put the supersoft tyres on we have more grip from the tyres and that helps. For whatever reason we’ve been quite struggling apart from the supersoft tyre,” Raikkonen said.

Scottsdale

All-Madrid Champions League final still possible

A repeat of the 2014 Champions League final between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid is still possible after Friday's semifinal draw. Real, who won that game 4-1 after extra-time, will play first-time semifinalists Manchester City, with the first leg in north-west England. Atletico host Bayern Munich in their first leg. Bayern manager Pep Guardiola misses what would have been a difficult semifinal for him against City, the Premier League side he will take charge of next season. City will host Real on April 26 and Atletico face Bayern the following evening. Real are unbeaten in their last eight games against English clubs. — Agencies