MPC, Kathmandu tie

LALITPUR: Mahendra Police Club and Kathmandu Club played a 4-4 draw in the day’s match of the Nepal Bank Junior (Under-14) League Football Tournament at ANFA Complex today. Birendra Thapa, Sunil Malla, Ritesh Shrestha and Prajjwol Subba scored for MPC, whereas Dhiranj Shrestha struck twice and Sanjay Mukhiya and man of the match Bishal Rai scored one goal each for Kathmandu. — HNS

15 get referee badges

LALITPUR: ANFA president Ganesh Thapa handed over ANFA Referee badges to 15 participants who passed the exams in the second phase of ANFA Referee Training Programme. In all, 35 participants from 14 districts took part in the 15-day training, conducted by former FIFA referees Gopal Mukunda Joshi and Shree Ram Ranjitkar, along with FIFA referees Buddhi Bahadur Gurung and Gyani Raja Shrestha. — HNS

Grading ceremony held

KATHMANDU: Anisha Risal and Nabina Thapa Magar got double promotion among the 22 participans at the Grading Ceremony that concluded at Syuchatar taekwondo dojang today. Five participants got white belt while seven, six and four got yellow, green and blue belts respectively from taekwondo coach Tonil Karmacharya. Meanwhile, dojang convenor Ishwor Kumar Bidari handed over gears to the winners of the third Inter-district taekwondo competition. — HNS

HK rout Guam 16-0

TAIPEI: Hong Kong trounced Guam 16-0 and North Korea thrashed Mongolia 6-0 Monday in the preliminary round of the 2005 East Asian Football Championship. Chan Siu Ki scored six goals and Wong Chun Yue three to help Hong Kong win the lopsided match. On Wednesday, Taiwan plays North Korea and Mongolia takes on Guam. The winner of the preliminary round will compete with South Korea, China and Japan in the July 31 finals in South Korea. — AP

3 ski racers die in Sweden

MORA: Two men competing in Sweden’s annual Vasaloppet cross-country ski race died during the event. A third man died before the race began on Sunday. Race doctor Ulf Hallmarker said the two skiers who died during the race were being examined by pathologists, but it was likely all three were victims of heart attacks. One of the skiers, a Norwegian, was aged in his 30s. The other two were Swedes in their 60s. Since the annual race began in 1922, seven people have died while competing in it. — AP

Elvir Balic retires

ANKARA: Bosnian international Elvir Balic, whose career included stints at Real Madrid and top Turkish clubs Fenerbahce and Galatasaray, announced that he is retiring from football. Balic, said that he was “bored” with the game and that he would continue to live in Turkey after he retires. The elegant striker had his brightest moments in Turkey, playing first for Bursaspor, then Fenerbahce, who sold him to Real Madrid for a record $35 million, still the highest amount to change hands in Turkish football. — AFP

Yelena sets world record

MADRID: Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia earned her 13th world record in the pole vault on Sunday, jumping 4.90 metres at the European Indoor Championships. She set the previous indoor mark with a jump of 4.89m last month. The Russian has now set four indoor world records this season. She also set the outdoor record of 4.91m at the Olympics and then raised it to 4.92m last September. — AP