Saina, Jayaram in quarters, women’s doubles pair out

Sarawak (Malaysia)

Saina Nehwal and Ajay Jayaram reached the quarterfinals of the season-opening Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament. Saina brushed aside Indonesia’s Hanna Ramadini 21-17 21-12 in a 42-minute contest. The top-seeded Indian will next face eighth seed Indonesian Fitriani Fitriani. Sixth seed Jayaram, meanwhile, staved off a challenge from Chinese Taipei’s Hsueh Hsuan Yi 21-12 15-21 21-15 at the Sibu Indoor Stadium. The 29-year-old will next face Indonesia’s Anthony Sinisuka Ginting. It was end of the road for the women’s doubles pair of Aparna Balan and Prajakta Sawant as they suffered a 18-21 14-21 loss to the second-seeded Chinese Taipei combo of Chiang Kai Hsin and Hung Shih Han. In the men’s doubles, Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy bowed out of the tournament after losing 17-21 21-18 12-21 to the Indonesian combo of Hendra Aprida Gunawan and Markis Kido.

Chennai

Jallikattu a cultural symbol, says Viswanathan Anand

Viswanathan Anand extended his support to holding the bull-taming sport, saying it was a cultural symbol. “Jallikattu is a cultural symbol. Respect it. I’m all for animal rights but here that is not the point. Tradition and livelihood are”, the chess legend tweeted. 

Gurugram

Mahavir Phogat plans sports complex in Balali

Coach Mahavir Phogat plans to establish a sports complex in his village, Balali, to groom youngsters. “I am not financially sound enough to open a school-cum-sports academy as my earnings depend on agriculture. Right now, I train students on a small traditional clay ‘akhada’ in my village where 30 students train,” he said. “I need financial aid of Rs 5-6 crore, 10 acres of land and sponsors so that I can groom young talent,” he added. 

New Delhi

Mandeep in Youth National Championship quarters 

Featherweight boxer Mandeep Kaur of Punjab defeated MP’s Gazal Mariya Mathew to enter the quarterfinals of Women’s Youth National championship. Mandeep was adjudged the winner after the referee was forced to stop the contest. Lightweight boxer Jony of Haryana also reached the quarterfinals. In the light flyweight category (45-48kg), Punjab’s Babita Rani edged past Nikita Lohar 3-2, while Uttar Pradesh’s Pragati beat Sheetal of Chandigarh to enter the last eight. — Agencies