Ritu Phogat quits wrestling to join mixed martial arts

Chandigarh

One of the famous Phogat siblings — Ritu (in pic) — has quit amateur wrestling to pursue her career in Mixed Martial Arts. The 24-year-old silver medallist of 2017 World U-23 Senior Wrestling Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, has joined the Evolve Fight Team, a Singapore-based team to pursue her career in martial arts. Ritu said, “It’s time for a new journey, a new challenge and a new beginning but the goal will remain the same — to represent my country and win championships.” Ritu (48kg) reportedly cited injury concerns to skip the senior national camp at Lucknow recently. By joining MMA, Ritu has forfeited her chances of representing India at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.  

Karachi
PCB ready to counter India at ICC meet, claims official 

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has “prepared a counter” in case the BCCI decides to boycott the June 16 World Cup game in Manchester in the wake of Pulwama terror attack. The matter will come up for discussion at the ICC Quarterly meet in Dubai, starting tomorrow. PCB chairman Ehsan Mani, MD Wasim Khan and COO Subhan Ahmad are in Dubai to attend the various meetings and workshops. 

Dhaka
Archers bag four golds in Dhaka youth meet 

India bagged a rich haul of four gold, three silver and three bronze medals at the third ISSF International Solidarity Archery Championship. In the compound individual girls event, Pragati won  the gold while Isha Pawar settled for the bronze. — Agencies

London
Spurs coach accepts improper conduct charge

Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino humbly chastised himself for unacceptable behaviour towards referee Mike Dean and accepted the misconduct charge levelled at him by the Football Association (FA) on Tuesday. The 46-year-old Argentinian said having watched replays of his heated exchange with Dean following the 2-1 defeat by Burnley on Saturday — highly damaging to his side’s title hopes — he could offer no defence. “Watching my behaviour afterwards on video, I need to accept the charge from the FA,” said Pochettino, who is usually one of the calmer managers prowling the touchline. “I need to apologise to Mike Dean.” 

MADRID
Real coach Solari plays down Bale rift talk

Real Madrid coach Santiago Solari sought to play down any talk of a rift with Gareth Bale, saying the Welshman is “100 percent focused” on their upcoming two El Clasico meetings with Barcelona over the next four days. The 29-year-old has been named as a substitute in Real’s past two La Liga games and refused to celebrate after scoring the decisive goal in his side’s 2-1 victory over Levante on Sunday, leading to heavy criticism in local and national media. agencies