Indian sports wrap, December 15: US, England, Germany, Australia among confirmed teams for inaugural Kho Kho World Cup

KHO KHO

US, England, Germany, Australia among confirmed teams for inaugural Kho Kho World Cup

US, England, Germany, Australia, New Zealand and Brazil are among the teams that have confirmed their participation in the inaugural Kho Kho World Cup, which India is hosting from January 13 to 19.

As many as 24 countries have already confirmed their participation in the week-long event, which will be organised at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in the national capital and at the Noida Indoor Stadium.

The event will be held on league-cum-knockout format, said Sudhanshu Mittal, who is the president of Kho Kho Fedration of India and chairman of the tournament’s organising committee.

The tournament will be held for both men and women.

Among Asian countries, Indonesia will send only their women’s team while all other nations will send both their men and women’s squads.

Mittal said that 615 players and 125 support staff will take part in the event. Each team will comprise 15 players, one coach, one manager and international technical officials.

-PTI

GOLF

Brijinder Singh re-elected unopposed as IGU president for second term in controversial polls

Brijinder Singh was re-elected as the president of the Indian Golf Union (IGU) for a second consecutive term during the Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Sunday.

The elections for IGU office-bearers and the Governing Council for the 2024-2026 term were held unopposed as the number of candidates matched the available positions.

Singh was the lone candidate for the president’s post, while S K Sharma and Sanjiv Rattan were elected unopposed as secretary and treasurer, respectively.

The nine members elected to the Governing Council are Farzan R Heerjee (Jharkhand), Harpuneet Singh Sandhu (Chandigarh), Harish Kumar (Uttarakhand), Nagesh Singh (Assam), Dr Param Navdeep Singh (Rajasthan), Sameer Sinha (Gujarat), Shashank Sandu (Maharashtra), Simarjeet Singh (Uttar Pradesh), and Viren Singh Ghumman (Punjab).

“Most of the members have previously been part of the Governing Council and are experienced golfers. We are clear about our growth path and will continue to work in that direction,” Brijinder Singh said.

The election, held at the India Habitat Centre, was conducted under the supervision of Justice (Retd) Rameshwar Singh Malik, who has been permitted by the Delhi High Court to supervise the polls as Returning Officer (RO). SPS Tomar was the representative from the Sports Ministry.

Justice (retd) Malik is the third appointee after Justice (retd) OP Garg and Justice (retd) Permod Kohli.

Interestingly, a rival faction led by IGU secretary-general Harish Shetty is conducting a parallel elective AGM at the Olympic Bhawan, the headquarters of the Indian Olympic Association, with Justice (Retd) O P Garg serving as the Returning Officer. Shetty is set to be elected president in this faction, alongside Basant Kumar Repswal as secretary-general.

The Bengal Golf Association had earlier challenged Justice Malik’s appointment as the RO, but the Delhi High Court declined to interfere, allowing the elections under Malik’s supervision. However, the court granted the petitioner liberty to legally challenge the election results after their declaration.

-PTI