A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday.
Captain Sunil Chhetri led from the front with a hat-trick as hosts India flexed their muscles and outplayed Chinese Taipei 5-0 to begin their campaign on a rousing note in the four-nation Intercontinental Cup, in Mumbai, on Friday night.
Chhetri, India's all-time highest scorer, led by example once again, scoring in the 14th, 34th and 62nd minute of the opener at the Mumbai Football Arena.
The India skipper's team-mate at Bengaluru FC, Udanta Singh, netted the other goal in the 48th minute, in what was a thoroughly dominant display by Stephen Constantine's men.
While Pronay Halder completed the rout of Chinese Taipei by finding the back of the net with his 78th minute long ranger from the edge of the box.
Such was India's dominance -- they enjoyed 67 percent possession -- that their goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu remained a spectator for a major part of the game.
India started on the offensive straightaway and were rewarded for their attacking intent when Jeje Lalpekhlua forwarded a through ball for Chhetri to slot the ball past the Chinese Taipei goalkeeper following an expert first touch.
There was a brief halt in the proceedings owing to an injury to Subhashish Bose, following which the visiting side looked to get into the box a create their first real chance, but the attempted final shot was off target and also lacked power.
Instead, India doubled their lead as Chhetri, after a fine team display of one-touching passing by him and his team-mates Jeje and Anirudh Thapa at the edge of the box, struck from a difficult angle.
India went into the break with their noses way ahead.
And it remained the same in the second half as the hosts scored their third goal, this time through Udanta, who showed fine dribbling skills and sliced through the Taipei defence before finishing with his left foot.
The 33-year-old skipper completed his hat-trick with a thundering strike into the top corner of the net following a lovely one-touch move.
Medal prospect high jumper Tejaswin pulls out of Asian Games
In a blow to India's medal hopes in the Asian Games, national record holder high jumper Tejaswin Shankar has pulled out of the multi-sporting event, citing 'tightness' on his neck.
The 19-year-old Delhi athlete, who studies business administration at the Kansas State University on a four-year scholarship, has informed about his decision to the Athletics Federation of India.
"He has sent us a short mail informing us that he will not be able to compete in the Asian Games. He said in the mail that he has tightness on his neck," AFI Secretary C K Valson said.
"Since neck plays an important role in high jump, I think he has taken the desion to pull out of the Games. He is a medal contender, so it is a blow for us and the country," he added.
Tejaswin cleared 2.28m in March during the Federation Cup National Championships in Pataila to set a new national record, bettering his own mark of 2.26m set two years ago. He then had 2.29m in a meet at Texas in US last month.
The bronze winner in the 2014 Incheon Asian Games had cleared 2.25m.
FC Pune City appoint Brazilian Marcos Paqueta as head coach
Indian Super League side FC Pune City announced renowned Brazilian Marcos Paqueta, who coached his country to two youth World Cup victories, as its new head coach.
Paqueta, who has close to 30 years of coaching experience across youth, club and age-group national teams, replaces Ranko Popovic, who stepped down on Wednesday after leading the club to semi-finals for the first time in the previous season.
After successfully managing youth teams of top Brazilian clubs for over a decade, Paqueta took reins of Brazil U-17 and U-20 national teams. Under him, the team won three titles each, including the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Cup and 2003 FIFA U-20 World Cup.
"From my conversations with the club, I understand that FC Pune City have a reputation for giving young footballers a great platform, a system that I have thrived in.
"There is huge potential at the club, and we will look to retain the core group of experienced players as well as some of the most exciting young talents in the League. I am excited for this new journey in India with FC Pune City," Paqueta said.
After his spell with Selecao youth sides, he shifted base to Middle-East joining Al-Hilal Saudi Football Club. In his time with the club, he led them to winning Saudi Premier League (2004-05), Saudi Crown Prince Cup (2004-05), Saudi Federation Cup (2004-05) and King Fahd Cup (2004-05).
Paqueta then coached the Saudi national team at the 2006 World Cup followed by a stint at Al-Hilal, helping them win another Saudi Premier League title in 2006-07 season.
