L A T E S T      N E W S

Vijender crashes out of Olympics 

London: India's star pugilist Vijender Singh today crashed out of the middleweight category as he lost by 13-17 to Uzbekistan's Abbos Atoev in the quarterfinal at the Excel Arena, here today.

The Beijing Games bronze medallist wasn't really impressive during his last eight bout against an opponent whom he had beaten 7-0 in the Asian Games final at Guangzhou two years back.

A defensive boxer by nature, Vijender stayed in his shell a tad too long giving Atoev a chance to make inroads, which proved to be decisive in the end.

Atoev's left and right hook combination also fetched him more points than the Indian's right hooks that occasionally landed on spot.

In the first round, it was even-stevens as both boxers were locked at 3-3. However, in the second round, Vijender rattled Atoev with a lethal left hook but the Uzbek came up with a few solid counter punches as he won the round 7-5.

Saina returns home to rousing welcome

New Delhi: Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal today returned to a rousing reception after winning a historic bronze medal at the Olympic Games in London.

Saina was flanked by her father Harvir Singh, coach Pullela Gopichand and several secuity personnel as she arrived in the national capital early this morning on a British Airways flight.

The 20-year-old showed no signs of a jet lag as she smiled and greeted several cheering fans, who jostled to catch a glimpse of her at the Indira Gandhi International Airport from where she took a connecting flight to her base Hyderabad.

Saina who bagged the bronze medal in London under fortuitous circumstances when her opponent -- world no. 2 Xin Wang -- was leading by a game and 1-0 before withdrawing from the bronze medal contest.

Wang twisted her knee late in the opening game when attempting an acrobatic smash from the rear court.

The Chinese shuttler was unable to continue the contest and the bronze went to Saina who became only the second Indian woman after weightlifter Karnam Malleswari (bronze in 2000 Sydney) to clinch an Olympic medal.

It was also the country's 10th individual medal since its first - a bronze - in 1952 by wrestler Kashaba Jadhav and its third in the ongoing Olympics after rifle shooter Gagan Narang's bronze on July 30 and pistol marksman Vijay Kumar's silver yesterday.

The other badminton players who also landed with Saina were men's singles quarterfinalist P Kashyap and women's doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Jwala Gutta.

Two CRPF commandos killed in IED blast

Raipur: Two CRPF commandos were killed in an IED blast triggered by Naxalites in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district early today.

The attack comes just a day after Maoists blew off an anti-landmine vehicle killing a CRPF trooper in the same district.

A Tata-407 vehicle was blown up killing two CoBRA commandos on the spot, senior officials said.

The commandos, identified as constable K P Singh and Mukul Burman, were carrying rations for a CRPF camp nearby when the blast occurred.

Senior officials said the blast took place near Basuguda, where joint security forces had carried out a controversial encounter last month.