NEW DELHI: The Fencing Association of India (FAI) announced the dates for the nationals for all age groups while also unveiling the calendar for the next year. The junior and senior nationals will be held at the same venue, the Rudrapur Stadium in Uttarakhand. The juniors will begin on March 15 and run until March 17 followed by a day’s gap for sanitising the indoor venue.
The senior nationals will then start on March 19 till March 21. The sub-junior nationals will be held in Cuttack at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium from March 24. The SOPs include carrying negative RT-PCR certificates for both athletes and accompanying members. The federation is also planning on keeping antigen testing at the venues for additional safety.
“Athletes have not participated in any competition for over a year now. We felt this was the best time to initiate the championships and we will adhere to the best safety standards during the events,” FAI secretary Bashir Ahmed Khan informed this daily. The FAI also revealed that Haryana, Chhattisgarh and Punjab were allotted the junior, sub-junior and senior nationals for the next cycle.
Bhavani uncertain
The Gerevich-Kovacs-Karpati World Cup will be held in Budapest, Hungary from March 11-14. The event will see four Indian men and as many women take part and the list includes Olympic hopeful Bhavani Devi. After many cancellations and tournaments, finally the Chennai athlete will return to competitive action. This tournament is her chance to book her ticket for Tokyo. Due to the close proximity between the World Cup and the nationals, Bhavani might not be able to go to Rudrapur. “Factors like travel, quarantine are issues,” said Ahmed.
Full story: newindianexpress.com
Europa league
Both AC Milan and Manchester United have enjoyed good seasons so far, with the two sides defying pre-season predictions. You can argue that the winner of this tie will be favourites to win the tournament. The question is who wants it more? Ole Gunnar Solskjær will like a shiny new trophy to kick on while Milan will like a title to sort of re-emphasise their redemption.
Rd of 16 matches
Ajax vs Young Boys, Dynamo Kiev vs Villarreal, Roma v Shakhtar Donetsk, Olympiakos vs Arsenal, Dinamo Zagreb vs Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United vs AC Milan, Slavia Prague vs Rangers, Granada vs Molde. The ties will be played on March 11 and March 18.