Sports Highlights

The following are the top stories at 2110 hours: STORIES ON THE WIRE: SPO-VIRUS-LD SALUTATION Sports fraternity salutes essential service providers engaged in fight against COVID-19 New Delhi, Mar 22 (PTI) India's sports fraternity joined the nation on Sunday to salute the essential services providers engaged in fight against COVID-19, by clapping for them or sharing messages and videos of gratitude on social media. SPO-VIRUS-LIFT-MIRABAI All efforts will go waste if Olympics is cancelled, says worried Mirabai Chanu By Aparajita Upadhyay New Delhi, Mar 22 (PTI) A wary Mirabai Chanu has only one prayer on her lips that the Tokyo Olympics goes as per schedule despite COVID-19 pandemic otherwise all her efforts of winning an Olympic medal will go down the drain.

SPO-VIRUS-SHOOT-BHAKER Not right time for sport but prepared for Olympics: Manu Bhaker By Abhishek Hore New Delhi, Mar 22 (PTI) Postponement of tournaments, cancellation of trials and camps hardly matter at this point to one of India's biggest young achievers in sport, Manu Bhaker, who is hoping to see the world win the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic. SPO-VIRUS-NEERAJ In self-isolation, Neeraj Chopra urges India to act responsibly for sake of its poor By Philem Dipak Singh New Delhi, Mar 22 (PTI) Star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra says he is keeping himself busy with workouts at gym and some movie-watching during self-isolation at NIS Patiala, urging the country to behave responsibly in its fight to contain the COVID-19 pandemic for the sake of its poor.

SPO-CRI-MCULLUM My fallout with Taylor is a bad stain on New Zealand cricket: McCullum Wellington, Mar 22 (PTI) Describing his fallout with Ross Taylor a "bad stain for New Zealand cricket", former skipper Brendon McCullum attributed it to a race for captaincy between the two in 2011 and admitted that they still aren't the best of friends despite mutual respect. SPO-VIRUS-SAI-FACILITIES SAI centres to be used as quarantine facilities to tackle COVID-19: Sports Ministry New Delhi, Mar 22 (PTI) The Sports Authority of India (SAI) centres, which have been shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will be used as quarantine facilities for patients of the deadly disease, the Sports Ministry said on Sunday.

SPO-HOCK-COACH-INTERVIEW Unlike others, COVID-19 has failed to hamper our Olympic preparation: Reid By Saumojyoti S Choudhury New Delhi, Mar 22 (PTI) The Indian men's hockey team chief coach Graham Reid believes eight-time champions India are better placed than their opponents when it comes to preparation for the Tokyo Olympics, as unlike other nations the deadly COVID-19 hasn't hampered their training program. SPO-CRI-ROHIT Someone missing here? Rohit takes dig at ICC after pull shot poll leaves him out New Delhi, Mar 22 (PTI) India's swashbuckling opener Rohit Sharma on Sunday took a dig at the ICC after his name did not feature in a poll initiated by the apex body on who has got the best pull shot in international cricket.

SPO-DDCA-SALARIES DDCA: 1.6 crore plus legal fee paid but coaches, support staff await salary By Kushan Sarkar New Delhi, Mar 22 (PTI) The Delhi and Districts Cricket Association is yet to pay remuneration of its coaches and support staff of various state teams (senior, age group, and women) but has cleared legal expenses of more than Rs 1.6 crore in the last four months. SPO-VIRUS-POLLARD Players should use this break to introspect, stay fit: Pollard Port-of-Spain, Mar 22 (PTI) West Indies' limited-overs skipper Kieron Pollard believes the break brought upon them by the COVID-19 pandemic is a good time to "introspect" about careers and players should use it to "stay mentally and physically fit".

SPO-FOOT-PK-HARJINDER Football lessons to eating bony fish, Harjinder recalls 'unmatched' PK New Delhi, Mar 22 (PTI) Unacquainted with Bengali eating habits at his prime, former footballer Harjinder Singh on Sunday recalled how PK Banerjee's wife helped him with separating flesh from a bony fish, after heady doses of football lessons by her legendary husband. SPO-FOOT-PK-VENKATESH PK Banerjee always had right words for players, says former India star Venkatesh New Delhi, Mar 22 (PTI) Current national team assistant coach Shanmugam Venkatesh on Sunday hailed the late PK Banerjee as the "first icon" of Indian football, who always had the right words for the players.

SPO-PCB-HAFEEZ PCB pulls up Hafeez for questioning tainted Sharjeel's comeback Karachi, Mar 22 (PTI) The Pakistan Cricket Board has reprimanded Mohammad Hafeez for questioning the tainted Sharjeel Khan's return to the game, saying the senior all-rounder should be "focusing on his own game" instead of criticising fellow players or making comments on the PCB's policies. SPO-RESEARCH-WOMEN Indians favour equal pay for women athletes: BBC research New Delhi, Mar 22 (PTI) An overwhelming majority of Indians say women athletes should receive equal pay as the males but 38 per cent believe that sports featuring women are not as entertaining as those featuring men, according to a BBC research.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)