KATHMANDU: The South Asian Football Federation has selected Nepal as the hosts for the U-19 SAFF Championship. The tournament is slated for August 20-29 in Kathmandu, said the All Nepal Football Association in a release on Monday. Sending a confirmation letter to ANFA, SAFF confirmed the participation of all eight member associations of the region — Nepal, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka — in the championship. The SAFF has scheduled two matches for a day for group stage and semi-finals, the ANFA release added.

Junior tennis begins

LALITPUR: Anthony Rai started the first Parents’ Cup Junior Tennis Tournament here at the National Tennis Complex on Monday. In U-18 category, Rai defeated Anusthan Shrestha 8-2. In U-16 boys' section, Saurav Pandey and Subash Bahadur Chand registered wins. In girls’ doubles section, Rana siblings Mahika and Mayanka defeated the pair of Bijisha Shrestha and Khusi Pandey, while Ira Rawat and Abhilasha Adhikari beat Saloni Tamang and Prerana Koirala. In U-14 boys’ category, Sworaj KC, Sushan Kuikel and Piyush Singh won their matches, while Sarbatra Pradhan and Juben Rawat registered wins in in U-12 boys’ section.

Hughes tribute match

SYDNEY: New South Wales and South Australia will play a Sheffield Shield match in honour of Phillip Hughes near to the former Test batsman’s home next year. Hughes died two days after being struck by a ball during a match between the two states at Sydney Cricket Ground last year, triggering a wave of mourning across Australia. “There are really no words that can describe the loss we all felt after the tragic passing of Phillip,” South Australian Cricket Association chief Keith Bradshaw said in a news release. “This match is but one way to remember our friend and much-loved teammate so close to his home town.” The match will take place at the Coffs International Stadium from February 25-28 next year.

Schlupp to stay

LONDON: Ghana international Jeffrey Schlupp has signed a new deal with Leicester City which will keep him at the club until 2019, the English Premier League side announced Monday. The 22-year-old full-back cum left winger has been linked recently with Arsenal, Manchester United and Aston Villa after impressing for Leicester as they avoided relegation from the Premier League last season. “Jeffrey Schlupp has committed his future to Leicester City by signing a new contract to keep him at King Power Stadium until June 2019,” said Leicester.

Discovery gets right

GENEVA: The International Olympic Committee announced on Monday that it had handed all broadcast rights in most of Europe to Eurosport, owned by Discovery Communications, for the four Olympic games between 2018 and 2024. “Discovery acquired the exclusive rights, valued at 1.3 billion euros, across all platforms, including free-to-air TV, subscription/pay-TV television, internet and mobile phone in all languages across 50 countries and territories on the European continent,” IOC said.