Football
Bilbao star Muniain out for six months
Athletic Bilbao winger Iker Muniain will miss the Basques’ Copa del Rey final against Barcelona after suffering a cruciate ligament injury, the club confirmed on Tuesday. Muniain had to be stretchered off in tears ( above ) during Athletic’s 2-0 defeat to Sevilla on Saturday and is set to be out for at least six months.
“A torn cruciate ligament has been detected in his left knee,” said a statement on the club’s website after the player underwent a scan. “The estimated time out oscillates between six and seven months.”AFP
Xavi still has important role to play: Luis Enrique
Barca boss Luis Enrique ( below ) has insisted that veteran midfielder Xavi Hernandez will have a significant contribution to make towards Barca’s push to win the treble in the final few months of the season.
“Xavi is an important player for us in any month of the year,” Enrique said on Tuesday.
“He knew it would be a special year for him and he has accepted it. He helps us both on and off the field.”AFP
Tennis
Hingis set for Fed Cup return
Swiss tennis legend Martina Hingis is set to return to Fed Cup duty following a 17-year absence after being called up on Tuesday by captain Heinz Guenthardt.
Hingis ( above ), 34, will compete in the World Group play-offs against Poland at Zielona Gora on April 18-19.AFP
Somdev fails to qualify
Stumbling at the final hurdle, Somdev Devvarman lost the third qualifying round of the Fayez Sarofim & Co. US Men’s Clay Court Championship to Guilherme Clezar, here.
Somdev fought hard before losing 4-6 4-6 to his Brazilian opponent, ranked 15 places below him at 186, in the Qualifiers of the USD 549,230 event.PTI
CHESS
Indians off to a good start in Dubai Chess
Former world junior champion Abhijeet Gupta got off to a flying start, defeating Maria Gevoryan of Armenia in the first round of the Dubai International Open chess tournament here on Tuesday.
Sahaj Grover, S Arun Prasad, S Kidambi and Murali Karthikeyan were the other Indian Grandmasters who did a similar act.
The tournament is a nine-round Swiss with 150 players in all.PTI
badminton
Guru, Praneeth, Tarun-Sikki reach Singapore Open main draw
Commonwealth Games bronze medallist RMV Gurusaidutt and young B Sai Praneeth advanced to the main draw of Singapore Open Super Series badminton tournament after notching up contrasting wins in the men’s singles qualifiers, here on Tuesday.
Kona Tarun and N Sikki Reddy, who won titles at Uganda and Romania last month, also made it to the main draw after twin victories in the qualifiers.PTI
Cricket
Unfit Maqsood out of Bangladesh cricket tour
Pakistani middle-order batsman Sohaib Maqsood ( below ) was on Tuesday ruled out of the Bangladesh tour with an arm injury, with uncapped leg-spinning all-rounder Saad Nasim named as his replacement in the one-day squad.AFP
Hafeez confident of clearing action
Pakistan’s veteran all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez says he is confident of resurrecting his career with a remodelled bowling action five months after it was declared illegal.
“I have worked on my action for the last five months and I am confident that I will clear the test,” he told reporters on Tuesday.AFP
athletics
PCI sacks its president
The Paralympics Committee of India (PCI) has sacked its president Rajesh Tomar for the gross mismanagement at the recent National Para-Athletics Championship in Ghaziabad, where athletes suffered due to lack of proper facilities.PTI
Bolt to compete at World Relays
World and Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt ( left ) will compete at the IAAF World Relays in the Bahamas, the Jamaica Athletics Association (JAAA) said on Tuesday.AFP
China’s Olympic champion hurdler Liu Xiang retires
China’s greatest track and field athlete Liu Xiang ( below ) announced his retirement on Tuesday, with the injury-plagued Athens 2004 gold medal winner saying he had “no choice” but to bring down the curtain on his trail-blazing career in the 110m hurdles.AFP
