Bits and Pieces

Balotelli strikes to give

NEW DELHI: New Delhi´s prestigious colonial-era golf club apologised Tuesday after a woman claimed she had been told to leave the premises because she was wearing the traditional dress of her native northeast.

The Delhi Golf Club — which houses a 200-acre (80-hectare) course in the heart of the city and is a favourite hangout of the Delhi elite — denied it had ordered the woman to leave, but admitted mistakes had been made.

The row erupted after Nivedita Barthakur, a London-based doctor, went for lunch at the club with her children´s nanny, who was wearing a Jainsem — several pieces of cloth that are tied or pinned at the shoulders, worn at ankle or knee length.

“Today Tailin Lyngdoh, an extremely proud Khasi lady who has travelled the world in her Jainsem from London to UAE was thrown out of the Delhi Golf Club because her dress was taken for a maid´s uniform,” Barthakur posted on Facebook late Sunday.

Tailin Lyngdoh then told the Times Now news channel she had been told her dress “didn´t look right for the place”.

“I felt very bad because in so many years, no one has ever treated me like that,” she said.

The claims sparked anger on social media, where many accused the club of racially discriminating against Lyngdoh.

One typical tweet accused the club of being “reminiscent of colonial past and shameless VIP culture”.

People from India´s isolated northeast routinely complain of racial profiling and discrimination based on their facial features, which appear more Asiatic than other Indians.

The club apologised on its website on Tuesday but maintained that the guests were not asked to leave.

“The management has immediately investigated the incident and it has emerged that the incident could have been handled in a much better way by the staff member,” Rajiv Hora, club secretary said.

Nicklaus says Tiger faces tough road back: report

WASHINGTON DC: Jack Nicklaus says Tiger Woods will have a very difficult time making a comeback to competitive golf as he deals with physical injury issues and undergoes treatment for managing medications.

Speaking Monday to USA Today at a charity tournament in Virginia, the winner of a record 18 major titles was not optimistic in the wake of Woods´s arrest last month for driving while impaired and back surgery Woods revealed in April he has undergone.

“He´ll have a very hard time. I don´t know whether Tiger will play much golf anymore,” Nicklaus said.

“He might come back and play — I think it would be pretty tough for him, after getting (his spine) fused and as many problems as he has had recently.

“His are more life problems than they are golf problems right now.”

Woods will not appear at this week´s PGA National tournament in suburban Washington because he continues to undergo treatment for managing medications for back pain and a sleeping disorder, issues Woods revealed last week in a Twitter posting.

Last month, Woods was arrested and charged with impaired driving near his Florida home.

A breathalyzer showed no alcohol in his system and he later said he was unaware he would have such a strong reaction to several prescription medications he was taking simultaneously.

Woods ranks second in major titles with 14 and in PGA career titles with 79, three shy of Sam Snead´s record total. But Nicklaus said Woods will not have his legacy defined merely by golf titles.

“Whether he plays golf or not, I think he has got an awful lot to offer the youth of the country and the game itself,” Nicklaus said.

Woods began his most recent comeback attempt in December in the Bahamas, but missed the cut at Torrey Pines in January and withdrew from an event in Dubai in February. In April, he announced his fourth back surgery and said he would not play again this season.

Britain takes first gold in Martial Arts

SEOUL: Great Britain picked up a first gold medal at the 2017 World Taekwondo Championships on Wednesday in South Korea as Bianca Walkden defeated Jackie Galloway of the United States.

The two bronze medallists from the 2016 Rio Olympics met in the Over-73 kg category in the southern South Korean city of Muju.

Walkden overcame Galloway 14-4 in the final of the event that ends Friday.

There was less positive news for the United Kingdom in the men´s Under-87kg class as Lutalo Muhammad, who missed out on gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics in the last seconds of the final, crashed out at the second round after a 21-6 defeat at the hands of Smayil Duisebay of Kazakhstan.

Turkey picked up a second gold to move second in the medal table as Zeliha Agris defeated Tatiana Kudashova of Russia in the final of the women´s Under-53kg category with a score of 11-8.

South Korea is still dominant however as the host nation collected a fourth gold medal of the tournament. Russia had to settle for silver once again as Jeong Yun-jo squeezed past 19-year-old Mikhail Artamonov 24-23 in an epic showdown in the final of the men´s Under-58kg category.

Russia and South Korea meet again on Thursday when Vladislav Larin and In Kyo-don face off in the semi-final of the men´s Under-87 kg category for the right to face either Alexander Bachmann of Germany or Slovenia´s Ivan Trajkovic in the final.

In the men´s Over-87 kg, there is an All-Africa semi-final as Gabon´s Anthony Obame meets Abdoul Razak Issoufou of Niger while Britain´s Mahama Cho meets Roman Kuznetsov.

South Korea has another medal hope in the semi-final of the women´s Under-73 kg category. Oh Hye-ri meets Mexico´s Maria Espinoza. The winner will take on either Reshmie Oogink of the Netherlands or Serbia´s Milica Mandic.

Murray suffers Wimbledon injury scare

LONDON: Andy Murray has suffered an injury scare ahead of Wimbledon as the world number one pulled out of an exhibition match at the Hurlingham Club due to a sore hip.

Murray had scheduled two matches at the Aspall Tennis Classic event following his shock first round exit against Australian world number 90 Jordan Thompson at Queen´s Club last week.

The 30-year-old Scot had been due to face Lucas Pouille, but his management announced on Tuesday that he would not take to the court because his hip was “a bit sore”.

The decision was described as a precaution, with Murray still planning to play the second match against an as-yet-unnamed opponent in west London on Friday.

Ex-China coach sorry for players no-show

SHANGHAI: The former head coach of China´s all-conquering table tennis team has denied knowing three top Chinese players would stage a no-show at a major tournament in protest at his removal.

Highly respected Liu Guoliang, a former Grand Slam champion who lost his job last week in a restructuring of Chinese table tennis, apologised to fans on the players´ behalf.

But the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has threatened to punish the star-studded China team for the actions of the players, who have also said sorry.

The sport´s three top-ranked men´s players — number one Ma Long, Fan Zhendong and Xu Xin — failed to appear for their second-round singles matches at the prestigious ITTF World Tour Platinum China Open in the southwestern city of Chengdu on Friday.

Two Chinese coaches also failed to show up and the ITTF consequently said it was taking the matter “extremely seriously”, while the furore has been a talking point in table tennis-mad China for several days.

Now Chinese Table Tennis Association (CTTA) vice-president, Liu issued a heartfelt statement on social media.

Writing on his Twitter-like Weibo account, Liu, 41, broke his public silence to say that he “knew nothing of them dropping out of the matches in advance”.

But he added: “These athletes and coaches are all team members that I had coached before... I hereby bow and apologise to all (table tennis) fans on their behalf!